Geospatial distribution of severe paediatric intussusception in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa

INTRODUCTION: intussusception in South African (SA) children is often severe. A proportion of cases require management at quaternary hospitals which are a scare resource in SA. A geospatial investigation of severe paediatric intussusception (SPI) in the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province of SA would assist with identifying regions which should be targeted for preventative interventions. This could reduce resource utilisation for this condition at quaternary hospitals. The objective of this study was to determine the geospatial distribution of SPI in KZN. METHODS: this was a retrospective analysis of data for patients with SPI who were admitted to a quaternary hospital in KZN over an 11-year period. Data related to patient demographics, duration of hospitalization, surgical intervention, inpatient mortality and residential postal code were extracted from the electronic hospital admissions system. Each residential postal code was linked to a corresponding KZN district municipality. Descriptive statistical methods were used to determine the distribution of various characteristics in the study sample. Semi-quantitative geospatial analysis was used to determine the distribution of patients with SPI in each KZN district municipality. RESULTS: the study sample consisted of 182 patients with SPI. Most patients were <1 year old (83.5%), male (51.1%) and black African (87.9%). All patients underwent surgical intervention. Inpatient mortality was 2.7%. The majority of patients in the study sample resided in the eThekwini and King Cetshwayo district municipalities (51.1% and 14.8%, respectively). CONCLUSION: preventative interventions for SPI should be considered for rollout in the eThekwini and King Cetshwayo district municipalities of KZN, SA.