Citywide trauma experience in Mwanza, Tanzania: a need for urgent intervention

Table 5 Distribution of patients according to postoperative complications (N = 2314)

Postoperative complications	Frequency	Percentage
Surgical site infections	844	36.5
Complication of fracture healing	457	19.7
Complications of abdominal surgery	36	1.6
Complications related to limb amputations	19	0.8
Skin grafting/flaps failure	17	0.7
Keloids/hypertrophic scars	15	0.6
Pulmonary infections	12	0.5
Postburn contractures	10	0.4
Tetanus	7	0.3
Cerebral abscess	5	0.2

Note: Tetanus is caused by Clostridium Tetani, a gram positive, anaerobic and spore forming bacterium which is found in soil and in animal and human faeces and the usual mode of entry is through open wounds. The diagnosis of tetanus is wholly clinical and based on the presence of one or more of the following:-
1. Trismus.
2. Rigidity of the neck and or abdomen.
3. Reflex spasms.

ISSN: 1752-2897