Road traffic injuries as seen in a Nigerian teaching hospital

Trauma is a major problem in both developing and developed countries. World wide road-traffic injuries (RTIs) represent 25% of all trauma deaths. Injuries cause 12% of the global disease burden and are the third commonest cause of death globally. In our own environment, trauma is also important, with RTIs being a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. There is limited data on RTIs in West African countries, and this necessitated our study. We aimed to find common causative factors and proffer solutions. This was a one year prospective study examining all cases of trauma from RTIs seen at the Accident and Emergency Department of the Ebonyi State University Teaching Hospital (EBSUTH), Abakaliki, Nigeria. Three hundred and sixty-three patients were studied. There was a male/female ratio of 3.4:1, with the modal age being 25 years. Most injuries involved motorcycles (54%). Passengers from cars and buses were also commonly affected (34.2%). Most of accidents occurred from head-on collisions (38.8%). Soft-tissue injuries and fractures accounted for 83.5% of injuries. The head and neck region was the commonest injury site (41.1%), and the most commonly fractured bones were the tibia and fibula (5.8%). Death occurred in 17 patients (4.7%), and 46 (12.7%) patients discharged themselves against medical advice. Improvements in road safety awareness, proper driver education-especially motorcycle drivers-and proper hospital care are needed in our subregion.