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Table 5 Distribution of patients according to postoperative complications (N = 2314)

From: Citywide trauma experience in Mwanza, Tanzania: a need for urgent intervention

Postoperative complications

Frequency

Percentage

Surgical site infections

844

36.5

Complication of fracture healing

457

19.7

Complications of abdominal surgery

36

1.6

Complications related to limb amputations

19

0.8

Skin grafting/flaps failure

17

0.7

Keloids/hypertrophic scars

15

0.6

Pulmonary infections

12

0.5

Postburn contractures

10

0.4

Tetanus

7

0.3

Cerebral abscess

5

0.2

  1. Note: Tetanus is caused by Clostridium Tetani, a gram positive, anaerobic and spore forming bacterium which is found in soil and in animal and human faeces and the usual mode of entry is through open wounds. The diagnosis of tetanus is wholly clinical and based on the presence of one or more of the following:-
  2. 1. Trismus.
  3. 2. Rigidity of the neck and or abdomen.
  4. 3. Reflex spasms.