Clinical profie of skull fractures at The University Teaching Hospital of Kigali (CHUK)

Background: Head injury is a common reason of emergency admission. Skull fractures are among common patterns of head injury and they require immediate clinical assessment and management. This represents an economic burden on health system in settings with limited financial resources, infrastructure, and equipment number of qualified personnel. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the clinical profile of skull fractures at the University Teaching Hospital of Kigali (CHUK).

Method: This is a retrospective descriptive study of patients with head injury who sustained skull fractures at CHUK from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2015.

Results: 635 patients presented at CHUK Emergency Department with head injury. The medical records for 241 patients presenting with heady injury was consulted. Of these 241 patients, 62 (25.72%) were diagnosed with skull fractures. Hospital records of these 62 patients were analyzed in accordance with the objectives to describe demographics, clinical presentation, injury mechanisms, management, and outcomes

Conclusion: Our research describes the most common mechanisms of injury that result in skull fractures that were treated at a major teaching university in East Africa. This paper offers insight on public health issues such as road traffic safety, occupational hazards such as those in farming, as well as sequalae of interpersonal conflcts. Attention and strong prevention measures in Rwanda and similar settings are thus warranted.

Keywords
Head injuries; Skull fractures; CHUK; Farming; Traffic accidents; Rwanda