Audit of consecutive cases of mortality in emergency department of a tertiary hospital in south eastern Nigeria

Introduction: Too many avoidable deaths have been noted in Nigeria. The Emergency Department (ED) mortality rate is a good assessment of the adequacy of the clinical care state of any hospital and in turn the survival probability of any critical ill patient attending that ED.
Materials and methods:This study was a retrospective one involving the review of records of all the one hundred consecutive deaths seen between June 2012 and February 2013 in the ED. All those brought in dead were excluded from the study. The data collected was simply analyzed.
Results:There were 71 males (71%) and 29 females (29%) with ratio of 2.4: 1.0. The age range of dead subjects was 11 years and above. The major cause of deaths in the study was medical conditions (65%) with a preponderance of cardiovascular deaths (49.23%).
Road traffic accident (RTA) was the major cause of trauma deaths (78.98%). Pedestrians and drivers were the most affected in RTA deaths (40% each). Deaths from malignancies constituted 43.75% of the non-traumatic surgical deaths. Majority of the deaths (74%) occurred within the first 24 hours of admission.
Conclusion:The mortality rate in the ED is vital in predicting the survival chance of any critically ill- patient attending it. Pre- hospital care and establishment of trauma teams in the hospitals will go a long way in reducing deaths tolls in the ED. Also the ED should be prepared to cope with the challenges of cardiovascular emergencies.