Chest trauma in Africa

Chest trauma is the second leading cause of trauma-related mortality worldwide. Their incidence is rising rapidly in Sub-Saharan Africa. Their management is complex, especially in a difficult context. The aim of this study was to describe current treatment modalities for thoracic injuries in two referral hospitals in Yaoundé, Cameroon. To this end, we conducted a cross-sectional study of 358 patient records admitted for thoracic trauma from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2020 at the Centre Hospitalier et Universitaire de Yaoundé (CHUY) and the Centre des Urgences de Yaoundé (CURY). Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 23.0 and MS Excel 2019. Of the 358 cases collected, 83% were male and 17% female, with a sex ratio of 5H/1F. The median age was 30 [23-40] years, with extremes of 1 and 96 years. The annual hospital frequency of thoracic trauma was 16.5%, with a peak in 2019. The mode of transport (93.6%) was very often non-medical. Pulmonary contusion (65.3%) was the main injury. Treatment was mostly conservative (70%). The overall mortality rate was 13.6%.