Paediatric Trauma in Port Harcourt, Nigeria: A Hospital-Based Study

Abstract Background: Trauma is a major cause of preventable morbidity and mortality in children in developing countries, including Nigeria. The cause of injury in children may be intentional or unintentional. This study aims to investigate the pattern and outcome of trauma in children aged 1–17 years in a Nigerian tertiary hospital. Materials and Methods: This is a 32-month prospective cross-sectional study conducted at the emergency medicine department of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital from July 2022 to February 2025. Results: Three hundred and eighty children were recruited into the study, with 222 (58.4%) males, 158 (41.6%) females and 153 (40.3%) aged 6–12 years. The children were involved in a wide range of activities before the injury occurred. The commonest mechanism of injury was road traffic accident, 203 (53.4%), and falls from height, 66 (17.3%). Most of the children, 283 (80.6%), were conscious at the time of presentation, while 29 (7.6%) were brought in dead. Conclusion: The causes of deaths from this study were most likely preventable. Boys were more trauma victims than girls. Most of the trauma was caused by road traffic crashes, which means the children were not properly supervised by an adult. This also extends to children falling from height, especially from the balconies of high-rise buildings. Child social services should be strengthened in Nigeria to reduce the burden, morbidity and mortality caused by trauma in children.