Browsing by Subject "Cambodia"
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Item Epidemiology of Traumatic Brain Injuries at a Major Government Hospital in Cambodia(2017-03-02) Peeters, Sophie Monique; Mihalic, Angela; Madden, Christopher; Gatson, JoshuaBACKGROUND: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a critical public health problem worldwide with a significant socioeconomic burden. While improved safety regulations in high-income countries have resulted in a decline in traffic-related TBI, the incidence of TBI in low-income countries is on the rise. We illustrate the trends and factors involved in TBI in a large Cambodian governmental hospital in Phnom Penh. Additionally, suggestions for improvement of the country's road traffic safety are discussed. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study of all patients who presented with traumatic brain injury to Department of Neurosurgery at Preah Kossamak Hospital in Phnom Penh, Cambodia between November 2013 and March 2016. RESULTS: Traumatic brain injuries in Cambodia are on the rise. 34% occur during rush hour, 5 to 9pm, and 40% during the weekend. The vast majority (74%) is due to road traffic accidents, of which 81% are motorcycle related. Helmet wear remains low at 13% and recent alcohol use was reported as 38%. The most common diagnosis is skull fracture. The subdural to epidural hematoma ratio was 1:1.05. Lastly, in both subdural and epidural hematomas the frontal lobe was most commonly involved, with 60% of epidural hematomas associated with a lucid interval. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests prevention and management of TBIs can have a measurable public health impact in Cambodia. Initiative examples include helmet safety awareness campaigns, stricter penalties, improvement of pre-hospital care, and more efficient triage. High proportion of un-helmeted motorcycle accidents correlates with a rise in epidural hematomas.Item Neurosurgery in Resource-Poor Settings: Improving Access to Surgical Education and Outcomes Analysis of Spine Surgery in a Training Hospital in Cambodia(2019-03-26) Still, Megan Elizabeth Hermann; Bagley, Carlos; Patel, Toral; Lega, Bradley C.BACKGROUND: Access to basic surgical care, and neurosurgery in particular, has historically been a neglected topic in the global health sphere. However, up to 30% of the global burden of disease is surgical in nature and great strides have been made in the past few years to spotlight and begin to rectify the huge gap in access to safe, timely, and affordable surgical care around the globe. Spine pathology is a common reason for admission to neurosurgical units in low- and middle- income countries (LMICs) and can have high morbidity rates from lack of specialized institutes. However, good surgical outcomes and quality of life scores have been reported in LMICs. OBJECTIVE: This study details the complication rates and predictive factors from spine surgery at a large hospital in Cambodia, aiming to identify high-risk patients to improve surgeon understanding of these complications for improved pre-operative planning and patient counseling. METHODS: This is a retrospective review of patients admitted for spine conditions to Preah Kossamak Hospital, in Phnom Penh (2013-2017). Univariate analysis was conducted on potential predictive factors; variables with p<0.1 were entered into multivariate logistic regression models. RESULTS: 773 patients were included. 46 patients had complications including wrong level surgery, hardware failure, and infection. On multivariate analysis, patients from the provinces of Kratie (p=0.009) or Sihanoukville (p=0.036), and delay to evaluation of over one year (p=0.027) were significant predictive factors of postoperative complications and ASIA A injury (p=0.020) was a predictive factor of poor outcome. CONCLUSION: Many factors play a role in spine surgery complications in LMICs, including limited access to intra-operative technology, low follow-up rates, and minimal physiotherapy and rehabilitation capabilities. Patients with long delays in presentation, ASIA A injuries, and lumbar-level surgery may be especially susceptible to complications and post-operative morbidity. Despite this, institutions have reported encouraging spine trauma outcomes, and spine surgeries are becoming more accepted and safe operations in many LMICs. Additionally, various groups are working towards equality and training in neurosurgery around the globe using different approaches towards education.