Neurotrauma: a burgeoning, yet understudied disease of rural areas in developing countries

Abstract

OBJECTIVE There is a paucity of data-driven reports on neurotrauma from the rural areas of developing countries, despite a disproportionally higher and burgeoning disease burden from those areas. This study aims to define the burden of neurotrauma in a new rural neurosurgical practice of a developing sub-Saharan country in Africa (Nigeria). METHODS The authors conducted a prospective observational study of all neurotrauma patients managed at their center over a 36-month period beginning in August 2018. RESULTS There were 1067 patients, 816 (76.5%) of them male, accounting for 79% of all the neurosurgical patients seen at the authors’ center during the study period. The peak incidence of neurotrauma was in the 20- to 29-year age group. The median trauma duration was 9 hours before presentation. The neurotrauma involved only head injury (HI) in 78% of the patients and only the spine in 4%. HIs were predominantly mild in severity (79%). Spinal cord injuries were largely incomplete (86%) and cervical in location (72%). Road traffic accidents caused approximately 79% (845/1067) of this neurotrauma burden, mostly from motorcycle crashes (69%, 581/845). Fifty-three patients (5%) were managed surgically. The median time from trauma to surgery for the operated patients was 82 hours. Treatment outcome was good in 81.2% of the patients. CONCLUSIONS Neurotrauma, mostly caused by motorcycle crashes and other road accidents, accounts for the bulk of the neurosurgical workload in this rural neurosurgical center. Although late presentation and delayed surgical interventions were prominent features of this level of care, the in-hospital outcome was fortuitously good in the majority of patients.