SINGAPORE: When Madhivadhana Sathiyamoorthi was 4 years old, playing with a puzzle made of magnetic beads almost killed her.

Her family had to rush her to a nearby polyclinic where an X-ray revealed the girl had swallowed 62 beads. Because they were magnets, many were stuck to each other in her intestine, which could have led to a potentially deadly bowel twist.

She was warded at the National University Hospital (NUH) where she underwent emergency surgery to remove the beads.

The procedure was successful, and Madhivadhana – now aged 9 – has a scar across her belly as a permanent reminder of the incident. 

“I was (so) worried because she was very young. At this age, she has to go through abdomen surgeries – (it's) unimaginable. I was worried and (so) stressed,” her father Sathiyamoorthi told CNA.

Such trauma cases have been on the rise in Singapore in recent years, prompting the launch of the first-ever National Injury Prevention Conference on Tuesday (Apr 1).

The conference, jointly held by NUH’s National University Centre for Trauma and KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH), aimed to drive potential changes to the law and address common causes of traumatic injuries.

22% JUMP IN CASES

According to latest data from the National Trauma Registry, which collates information from Singapore’s nine public hospitals, more people are being admitted for moderate or severe injuries arising from trauma.

From 2021 to 2023, the number of such cases rose by 22 per cent – from 148 to 166 out of every 100,000 people.

Many such injuries were sustained during incidents like falls and road accidents.

During that period, roughly eight out of 100,000 patients were treated for traumatic injuries at public healthcare institutions daily.

These ranged from minor injuries like sprains to severe ones like amputations.

Among adults, the leading causes of moderate to severe traumatic injuries were falls – especially at home – and vehicular accidents. Motorcyclists made up nearly half of the latter.

For children under 18, falls at home were also the most common cause of moderate to severe traumatic injuries. Most injured on the road were either cyclists or pedestri...