ArticleEmergency medicine international2018
The Burden and Outcomes of Abdominal Pain among Children Presenting to an Emergency Department of a Tertiary Hospital in Tanzania: A Descriptive Cohort Study.
Article in Emergency medicine international, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The impact of gender on pediatric surgical access and outcomes in Africa.Pediatric surgery international · 2025Pooled it
- Diagnostic value of ultrasound in pediatric acute abdominal pain: a cross-sectional study from a tertiary center in Southern Iran.BMC pediatrics · 2025Article
- Derivation and Internal Validation of a Novel Risk Assessment Tool to Identify Infants and Young Children at Risk for Post-Discharge Mortality in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Monrovia, Liberia.The Journal of pediatrics · 2024Observational
- Observational
- A Prospective, observational cohort study to identify neonates and children at risk of postdischarge mortality in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Monrovia, Liberia: the PPDM study protocol.BMJ paediatrics open · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAbdominal pain in children can represent benign conditions or life-threatening emergencies. Aetiologies of paediatric abdominal pain vary geographically and have not been studied in acute care settings in East Africa. This study describes the clinical profiles and outcomes of children presenting with undifferentiated abdominal pain to the Emergency Department of Muhimbili National Hospital (ED-MNH).
methodsThis was a prospective cohort study of children below 18 years of age presenting to the ED-MNH with abdominal pain. A structured case report form was used to collect data on patients from June to December 2016. Data included demographics, clinical presentation, and mortality. Data were summarised using descriptive statistics.
resultsOut of 1855 children who presented to ED-MNH, 184 (9.9%) met inclusion criteria, and all were enrolled. The median age was 3.5 years (IQR: 1.3-7.0 years) and 124 (67.4%) were male. Most (138 [75.0%]) were referred from peripheral hospitals. The most frequent ED providers' diagnoses were hernia (34 [18.5%]) and intra-abdominal malignancy (19 [10.3%]). From the ED, 37 (20.1%) were discharged home, 83 (45.1%) were admitted to medical wards, and 48 (26.1%) were admitted to surgical wards. 16 (8.7%) underwent an operation. 24-hour, seven-day, and three-month mortality rates were 1.1%, 6.5%, and 14.5%, respectively. The overall in-hospital mortality rate was 12.2%. Multivariate analysis showed that age below 5 years, female sex, and haemoglobin less than 10.9 g/dl were significant factors associated with in-hospital mortality. DISCUSSION AND
conclusionAbdominal pain is a common complaint among paediatric patients presenting to the ED-MNH. This presentation was associated with a high admission rate and a high mortality rate. Age below 5 years, female sex, and haemoglobin less than 10.9 g/dl were associated with mortality. Further studies and quality improvement efforts should focus on identifying aetiologies, risk stratification, and appropriate interventions to optimise patients outcomes.
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