Pattern of paediatric general surgery cases in a rural teaching hospital in South-South Nigeria

Introduction: To review the pattern of paediatric surgical cases seen in a rural teaching Hospital in south-south
Nigeria over a three-year period. Methods: A retrospective analysis of all patients managed in a Paediatric Surgery
Unit over a three-year period (September 2014 – August 2017) was done. Data collected were analysed using SPSS
version 23. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05 at 95% confidence level and results were presented in tables
and chats where appropriate. Results: 730 cases were seen of which males were more (78.4%) and more of the age
groups were neonates (28.8%). Majority of the cases were electives (76.9%). Circumcision and circumcision related
cases (31.0%) were mostly seen, which was followed by inguinoscrotal hernias and hydroceles, (25.1%) and
gastrointestinal conditions (15.9%). Conclusion: Although the number of cases seen were few when compared with
established paediatric surgical practice, the pattern of cases seen reflect what have been reported by most authors as
paediatric inguinal hernia and hydrocoele were the commonest cases seen in the study barring circumcision.