Emergency general surgery in Rwandan district hospitals: a cross-sectional study of spectrum, management, and patient outcomes

Table 2 Diagnoses and clinical characteristics of emergency general surgical patients (N = 356)

	n	Percent
Emergency surgical conditions diagnosis
Soft tissue infections	255	71.6
Abscess	134	52.6
Pyomyositis	45	17.7
Unspecified deep tissue infections	41	16.1
Cellulitis	21	8.2
Necrotizing fasciitis	8	3.1
Extremity gangrene	6	2.3
Acute abdominal conditions	51	14.3
Bowel obstruction	23	45.1
Volvulus	10	19.6
Bowel perforation	6	11.8
Unspecified peritonitis	6	11.8
Appendicitis	5	9.8
Cholecystitis	1	1.9
Complicated hernia	28	7.9
Incarcerated	15	53.6
Obstruction/strangulation	13	46.4
Urological emergencies	19	5.3
Acute urinary retention	13	68.4
Testicular torsion	6	31.6
Thoracic emergencies	3	0.9
Pneumothorax	2	66.7
Empyema	1	33.3
Duration of symptoms (n = 274)
< 3 days	54	19.7
3–6 days	48	17.5
7–29 days	108	39.4
≥ 30 days	64	23.4
Hypotensive at admission(Systolic Blood Pressure < 90 mmHg)(n = 226)	8	3.5
History of prior surgery (n = 141)	25	17.7
Underlying medical illness^a (n = 222)	52	23.4

^aIncludes: Hypertension, diabetes, cardiac, stroke, kidney disease, HIV, liver disease, hematological disorder, psychiatric diagnosis

ISSN: 1471-2482