Abstract
BACKGROUND: Gynecological emergencies which affect the adolescents may pose a serious challenge to both the patient and the gynecologist. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study is to determine the clinical presentations and management outcomes of emergency adolescent gynecological disorders at Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a retrospective review of all cases of adolescent gynecological emergencies managed at Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2014. Data obtained from their case notes were analyzed using the IBM statistics version 20 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). Data were presented using percentages and pie chart. RESULTS: The prevalence of adolescent gynecological emergency disorders was 5.1%. The majority (82%) of the patients belong to the age bracket 15-19 with a mean age of 16.7 (2.4) years. About 90% of the patients were nulliparous. Unmarried patients comprised 80% of the study group. Vaginal bleeding was the most common clinical presentation (86%). The two most common diagnoses were abortion (60%) and sexual assault (26%). Only 10% of sexually active adolescent were using any form of contraception. Care received includes manual vaccum aspiration, laparotomy, and antibiotics. Blood transfusion was given in 18% of the cases. No death was recorded in all the cases. CONCLUSION: Abortive conditions and sexual assault were the most common clinical diagnosis among adolescents in the study. The percentage of adolescent assaulted in our study is unacceptable and should be prevented and efforts should be made to reduce the high unmet need for contraception seen in the study.