Objectives: To highlight the causes of hospitalization among sickle cell diseased (SCD) children in Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah, Saudi Arabia. Methods: A retrospective study conducted at the Maternity and Children’s Hospital, Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah, Saudi Arabia. A data of 739 SCD children admitted to the hematology/oncology unit between October 2010 and September 2015 were collected. The collected data were analyzed using an independent t test and a Chi square test as appropriate. Results: Approximately 49% of the studied children were presented by acute painful crisis. Acute chest syndrome was reported in 20.9%. Infection was the cause of admission in 17.5%, and acute anemia was reported in 8.1% of the studied patients. No significant difference of the reported clinical manifestations by patients’ gender. Children aged <12 years showed significantly high frequency of acute chest syndrome (ACS) (26.5%), while acute painful crisis (66.4%) was significantly more frequent among children aged ≥12 years. Conclusion: This study revealed high rate of hospitalization of SCD children because of acute painful crisis, ACS, infection, and anemia. These admissions causes could potentially be continuously assessed to minimize the rate of hospitalization.

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Objectives: Although calcaneal fractures are relatively uncommon, they are among injuries that may lead to short-and long-term morbidity regardless of the treatment. The Saudi Arabian literature showed a shortage of studies that analyzed the epidemiology of this fracture. This study aimed to analyze the epidemiology and characteristics of patients with calcaneus fractures. Methods: A retrospective study of all patients with calcaneal fractures admitted to King Fahd Hospital in Almadinah Almunawwarah City, Saudi Arabia, over a 4-year-period (January 2016-December 2019). Data such as age, gender, trauma mechanism, laterality of fracture, and associated injuries, were extracted from patients' medical files and analyzed using appropriate statistical tests. Results: The study analyzed data of 130 patients with calcaneal fractures (156 calcaneal fractures). Male patients (86.2%) were more commonly affected than females, at a ratio of 6.2:1. Ninety-three (71.5%) of the cases resulted from low-energy falls and road traffic accidents (RTA). Low-energy falls and falling from a height as injury mechanisms were higher in female patients, while RTA was more frequent in males. Bilateral fractures were found in 20% of cases, with a significantly higher rate in male patients. The associated skeletal injuries were more frequent in females than male patients (66.7% vs. 43.8%), while associated nonskeletal injuries were only found in 15 male patients, particularly those aged <40 years. Conclusion: Calcaneal fractures have a high rate of associated skeletal and nonskeletal injuries indicating the seriousness of these fractures. More research using data from multi-centers is warranted.