Marc Leroy Guifo

Brachiocephalic A-V fistula through the median cubital vein; A reliable option to failure of forearm fistulas. A case report from CHU Yaoundé

Highlights • We describe a brachiocephalic access created with retrograde flow through the median cubital vein.• Anatomical consideration for choice of a vascular access for maintenance haemodialysis are review.• This access can be useful to avoid difficulties of venipuncture of brachiobasilic fistula and in failure of forearm fitulas.

Paediatric fractures in a sub-saharan tertiary care center: a cohort analysis of demographic characteristics, clinical presentation, therapeutic patterns and outcomes

Introduction Paediatric fractures are often of good prognosis due to auto-correction of insufficient fracture reduction by bone remodeling. In sub-Saharan Africa, traditional healers are renowned for managing fractures and there is a neglect for specialized pediatric fracture care. We aimed to determine the demographic characteristics, clinical presentation, treatment patterns and outcomes of paediatric fractures in a tertiary health care centre in Yaoundé. Methods We conducted a prospective cohort study of all consenting consecutive cases of fractures in patients younger than 16 years managed between January 2011 and June 2015 at the University Teaching Hospital, Cameroon. We analysed demographic data, injury characteristics, fracture patterns, treatment details, therapeutic challenges and outcome of treatment at 12 months of follow-up. Results We enrolled 147 fractures from 145 children with a mean age of 7 years and male-to-female sex ratio of 2.5:1. The main mechanisms of injury were games (53%) and accidental falls (20.7%). Forearm fractures were the most common fractures (38%). The mainstay of management was non-operative in 130 (88.5%) fractures, with 29.3% manipulations under anesthesia and 17 (11.5%) open reductions with internal fixation. The most surgically reduced fractures were supracondylar humeral fractures. Major difficulties were long therapeutic delay, lack of diligent anaesthesia and the lack of fluoroscopy. The outcome of treatment was favorable in 146 (99.3%) paediatric fractures. Conclusion With the growing population of sub-Saharan Africa and the objective of becoming an emergent region, public policies should match the technical realities.

A Prospective Cohort Study of the Therapeutic Patterns, Challenges and Outcomes of Paediatric Femoral Fractures in a Cameroonian Tertiary Center

Background: Knowledge of the therapeutic patterns, challenges and outcomes of treatment of paediatric femoral fractures (PFF) helps to better choose the ideal therapeutic modality which is still controversial. However, this data is scarce in the sub-Saharan African literature. Objective: To determine the therapeutic patterns, treatment challenges and outcomes of treatment of PFF in a tertiary care centre in Cameroon. Method: We conducted a prospective cohort study of all consenting consecutive cases of femoral fractures in patients younger than 16 years managed between 2011 and 2015 at the surgical unit of Yaoundé University Teaching Hospital, Cameroon. We analysed demographic data, injury characteristics, fracture patterns, treatment details, therapeutic challenges and outcomes of treatment at 12 months using Flynn’s criteria. Results: We enrolled 30 femoral fractures from 29 children with mean age was 4.2 ± 3.3 years. The male gender, diaphyseal locations and spiral fracture lines were predominant. Main mechanisms of injury were accidental falls, road traffic accidents and game injuries. Fracture management entailed 12 tractions followed by casting, 10 casting alone, four closed reductions followed by casting, two cannulated screw fixations, one pin fixation and one external fixation. The mean duration of consolidation was 10.3 ± 3.9 weeks. The outcome was rated excellent in 28 cases. Limited resources precluded fluoroscopy use, proper anaesthetic management, early rehabilitation and patient-parent satisfaction. Conclusion: Conservative management of PFF yields a good outcome in our setting. However, an improvement in surgical, radiology and anaesthetic infrastructure is needed for optimal PFF care.