Surgical mortality in the emergency room

We reviewed retrospectively 125 surgical deaths in the accident and emergency department of University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, a major health facility in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, between April 2000 and March 2003. Data were extracted from the casualty records. The male-to-female ratio was 2.8:1. The mean age was 36.5+16.9, with 84 being between 20 and 49 years. Road traffic deaths constituted the highest toll (n=52). Head injury was the commonest primary cause of death (n=37), while cardio respiratory arrest (n=59) was the commonest secondary cause of death. The majority of patients died within 24 h. Surgical deaths constitute a significant load in emergency room deaths. Most of these are from road trauma, and efforts at prevention are advocated.