Oral maxillofacial fractures seen at a ugandan tertiary hospital: a six-month prospective study

AIM: To investigate the epidemiological characteristics of maxillofacial fractures and associated fractures in patients seen in the Oral Surgery Unit of Mulago Hospital, Kampala, Uganda. METHODOLOGY: A six-month prospective study was conducted. Data collected included socio-demographic factors, type and etiology of injury, additional fractures, and post-surgery complications. RESULTS: One hundred thirty-two (132) cases ranging from 5-70 yrs of age were reported, with a male: female ratio of 7.7:1. The 21-30 yr age group was the largest, comprising 51.51% of cases (n=68). Road traffic accidents contributed to 56.06% (n=74) of fractures. In total, 66% of the sample (n=87) suffered isolated mandibular fractures. Symphyseal and maxillary fractures were the most common mandibular and mid-facial fractures, respectively. Among associated fractures, the femur was most affected. A total of 39 (29.54%) of patients had post-operative complications, of which infection accounted for 48.71% (n= 19), and malocclusion accounted for 17.94% (n=7). CONCLUSIONS: Anticipated changes in maxillofacial trauma trends necessitate regular epidemiologic studies of facial fractures to allow for development and implementation of timely novel preventive measures

Oral Maxillofacial Fractures Seen at a Ugandan Tertiary Hospital: A Six-Month Prospective Study

AIM: To investigate the epidemiological characteristics of maxillofacial fractures and associated fractures in patients seen in the Oral Surgery Unit of Mulago Hospital, Kampala, Uganda. METHODOLOGY: A six-month prospective study was conducted. Data collected included socio-demographic factors, type and etiology of injury, additional fractures, and post-surgery complications. RESULTS: One hundred thirty-two (132) cases ranging from 5-70 yrs of age were reported, with a male: female ratio of 7.7:1. The 21-30 yr age group was the largest, comprising 51.51% of cases (n=68). Road traffic accidents contributed to 56.06% (n=74) of fractures. In total, 66% of the sample (n=87) suffered isolated mandibular fractures. Symphyseal and maxillary fractures were the most common mandibular and mid-facial fractures, respectively. Among associated fractures, the femur was most affected. A total of 39 (29.54%) of patients had post-operative complications, of which infection accounted for 48.71% (n= 19), and malocclusion accounted for 17.94% (n=7). CONCLUSIONS: Anticipated changes in maxillofacial trauma trends necessitate regular epidemiologic studies of facial fractures to allow for development and implementation of timely novel preventive measures

Oral maxillofacial neoplasms in an East African population a 10 year retrospective study of 1863 cases using histopathological reports

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Neoplasms of the oral maxillofacial area are an interesting entity characterized by differences in nomenclature and classification at different centers.</p> <p>We report neoplastic histopathological diagnoses seen at the departments of oral maxillofacial surgery of Muhimbili and Mulago referral hospitals in Tanzania and Uganda respectively over a 10-year period.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We retrieved histopathological reports archived at the departments of oral maxillofacial surgery of Muhimbili and Mulago referral hospitals in Tanzania and Uganda respectively over a 10-year period from June 1989–July 1999.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In the period between June 1989 and July 1999, 565 and 1298 neoplastic oro-facial cases were retrieved of which 284 (50.53%) and 967 (74.54%) were malignant neoplasms at Muhimbili and Mulago hospitals respectively. Overall 67.28% of the diagnoses recorded were malignant with Kaposi's sarcoma (21.98%), Burkiits lymphoma (20.45%), and squamous cell carcinoma (15.22%) dominating that group while ameloblastoma (9.23%), fibromas (7.3%) and pleomorphic adenoma (4.95%) dominated the benign group.</p> <p>The high frequency of malignancies could be due to inclusion criteria and the clinical practice of selective histopathology investigation. However, it may also be due to higher chances of referrals in case of malignancies.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>There is need to reexamine the slides in these two centers in order to bring them in line with the most recent WHO classification so as to allow for comparison with reports from else where.</p

Lymphoma Prevalence Patterns in Uganda, 1969-2006

Background: Lymphomas are a complex group of malignancies that requireadvanced technology for proper classification. Unfortunately Uganda, as with numerousother Sub-Saharan African countries, lacks these resources. As a result, lymphomadiagnoses do not follow WHO guidelines.Methods: Histopathology records at Makerere University College of HealthSciences, Department of Pathology and the population estimates available through thePopulation Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs(2011) were used to calculate the prevalence of lymphomas in Uganda.Results: The most common pediatric (age: less than 15 years) lymphoma wasBurkitt’s lymphoma, followed by lymphoblastic lymphoma. For adolescents andyoung adults (age: 15 to 24 years), Hodgkin’s lymphoma was the leading subtype,followed by lymphoblastic lymphoma. For adults, small lymphocytic lymphoma wasthe most common subtype, followed by Hodgkin’s lymphoma. In this study there wasa dip in the prevalence of lymphomas during the period 1979 to 1988, followed by asteady increase. This coincided with the time when Uganda lost many of its expertsbecause of political turmoil and therefore might be due to a lack of clinicians andhistopathologists that lead to this decline. Conclusion: This study highlights the deficiencies in diagnosis of lymphomas,making it difficult to compare with other centers. There is a need to invest in immuno-histochemistry techniques to aid better classification of lymphomas in Uganda

Knowledge and Antibiotics Prescription Pattern among Ugandan Oral Health Care Providers: A Cross-sectional Survey

Background and aims. Irrational prescription of antibiotics by clinicians might lead to drug resistance. Clinicians do prescribe antibiotics for either prophylactic or therapeutic reasons. The decision of when and what to prescribe leaves room for misuse and therefore it is imperative to continuously monitor knowledge and pattern of prescription. The aim of the present study was to determine the knowledge of antibiotic use and the prescription pattern among dental health care practitioners in Uganda. Materials and methods. A structured and pretested questionnaire was sent to 350 dental health care practitioners by post or physical delivery. All the questionnaires were sent with self-addressed and prepaid postage envelopes to enable respondents to mail back the filled questionnaires. Chi-squared test was used to test for any significant differences between groups of respondents based on qualitative variables. Results. The response rate was 40.3% (n=140). Of these 52.9 % were public health dental officers (PHDOs) and 47.1% were dental surgeons. The males constituted 74.3% of the respondents. There were statistically significant differences between dental surgeons and (PHDOs) in knowledge on prophylactic antibiotic use (P = 0.001) and patient influence on prescription (P = 0.001). Amoxicillin, in combination with metronidazole, was the most common combination of antibiotics used followed by co-trimoxazole with metronidazole. Conclusion. The knowledge of dental health care practitioners in antibiotic use in this study was generally low. A combination of amoxicillin with metronidazole was the most commonly prescribed antibiotics subsequent to different dental procedures