Characteristics of acute care surgery patients before and after introduction of an acute care surgery service at University Teaching Hospital of Kigali
| Total ACS n=222 | Pre-ACS n=120 | Post-ACS n=102 | P value | |
| Age (years)* | 33 (24, 53.5) | 32 (23, 52) | 35 (26, 58) | 0.113 |
| Gender | ||||
| Male | 144 (65) | 79 (66) | 65 (64) | 0.818 |
| Female | 77 (35) | 41 (34) | 36 (36) | |
| Insurance | ||||
| Community-based health insurance | 202 (92) | 116 (100) | 86 (86) | 0.002 |
| Private | 14 (6) | 4 (3) | 10 (10) | |
| None | 4 (2) | 0 | 4 (4) | |
| Province | ||||
| Kigali | 75 (34) | 39 (33) | 36 (36) | 0.291 |
| East | 66 (30) | 31 (26) | 35 (35) | |
| North | 42 (19) | 25 (21) | 17 (17) | |
| West | 24 (11) | 17 (14) | 7 (7) | |
| South | 13 (6) | 8 (7) | 5 (5) | |
| Comorbidities | ||||
| Gastritis | 21 (9) | 14 (12) | 7 (7) | 0.162 |
| Hypertension | 4 (2) | 2 (2) | 2 (2) | 0.626 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 7 (3) | 3 (3) | 4 (4) | 0.411 |
| HIV | 3 (1) | 2 (2) | 1 (1) | 0.561 |
| Tuberculosis | 1 (0.5) | 1 (1) | 0 | 0.541 |
| Smoking | 14 (6) | 5 (4) | 9 (9) | 0.126 |
| Consulting department | ||||
| Accident and emergency | 205 (94) | 111 (93) | 94 (95) | 0.748 |
| Internal medicine | 6 (3) | 4 (3) | 2 (2) | |
| Pediatrics | 4 (2) | 3 (3) | 1 (1) | |
| Obstetrics and gynecology | 3 (1) | 1 (1) | 2 (2) | |
| Other | 1 (0.5) | 1 (1) | 0 | |
| Vitals† | ||||
| Febrile | 73 (33) | 45 (38) | 28 (27) | 0.112 |
| Tachycardia | 149 (67) | 87 (73) | 62 (61) | 0.064 |
| Tachypnea | 69 (31) | 50 (42) | 19 (19) | <0.001 |
| Hypotensive | 4 (2) | 2 (2) | 2 (2) | 0.626 |
| Hypoxia | 8 (4) | 2 (2) | 6 (6) | 0.094 |
| Laboratory‡ | ||||
| Leukocytosis (n=188) | 96 (51) | 54 (54) | 42 (48) | 0.391 |
| Anemia (n=211) | 30 (14) | 16 (14) | 14 (14) | 0.979 |
| Thrombocytopenia (n=207) | 34 (16) | 20 (18) | 14 (14) | 0.431 |
| Renal failure (n=92) | 18 (20) | 8 (22) | 10 (18) | 0.606 |
| Diagnosis | ||||
| Intestinal obstruction | 80 (36) | 35 (19) | 37 (36) | 0.26 |
| Trauma | 38 (17) | 24 (20) | 14 (14) | 0.216 |
| Appendicitis | 31 (14) | 18 (15) | 13 (13) | 0.629 |
| Skin and soft tissue infection | 17 (8) | 6 (5) | 11 (11) | 0.106 |
| Neoplasm | 12 (5) | 6 (5) | 6 (6) | 0.5 |
| Peptic ulcer disease perforation | 10 (5) | 6 (5) | 4 (4) | 0.479 |
| Typhoid intestinal perforation | 9 (4) | 6 (5) | 3 (3) | 0.336 |
*Continuous variables reported as median (IQR), analysis with Wilcoxon rank-sum test.
†Febrile=temperature greater than 38.5°C; tachycardia=heart rate greater than 90 beats per minute; tachypnea=respiratory rate greater than 22 breaths per minute; hypotensive=systolic blood pressure less than 90 mm Hg; hypoxia=oxygen saturation less than 90%.
‡Leukocytosis=white cells greater than 10 x10∧9/L; anemia=hemoglobin <100 g/L; thrombocytopenia=platelet <150 K/μL; renal failure=creatinine >168 μmol/L.
ACS, acute care surgery.