Abstract
Background: In Peru, 11% of deaths are due to trauma.
Iquitos is a large underserved
Peruvian city isolated from central resources by its
geography. Our objective was to
implement a locally driven trauma registry to sustainably
improve trauma healthcare in
this region.
Methods: All trauma patients presenting to the main regional
referral hospital were
included in the trauma registry. A pilot study
retrospectively analyzed data from the first
two months after implementation.
Results: From March to April 2013, 572 trauma patients were
entered into the database.
Average age was 26.9 years. Ten percent of patients
presented more than 24 hours after
injury. Most common mechanisms of injury were falls (25.5%),
motor vehicle collisions
(23.3%), and blunt assault (10.5%). Interim analysis
revealed that 99% of patients were
entered into the database. However, documentation of vital
signs was poor: 42% of patients
had temperature, 26% had oxygen saturation documented. After
reporting to registry staff,
a significant increase in temperature (42 to 97%, P <
0.001) and oxygen saturation (26 to
92%, P < 0.001) documentation was observed.
Conclusion: A trauma registry is possible to implement in a
resource-poor setting. Future
efforts will focus on analysis of data to enhance prevention
and treatment of injuries in
Iquitos.