Latest update April 20th, 2024 12:10 AM
Dec 12, 2008 News
…Guyanese surgeons to receive training from U.S. specialists
The team of US-based doctors which has been in Guyana since Monday conducting orthopaedic surgeries at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) has been able to perform surgeries on a total of seventeen children, with the majority being cases of ‘club foot.’
When the team had arrived in the country, it was scheduled to perform twenty-two surgeries, but due to the difficulty in some cases, some of the patients were deferred until 2009.
The primary objective of the trip was to provide orthopaedic surgery to children with low extremity deformities, and according to coordinator of the mission, Dr John Mitchell, the majority of cases were ‘club foot,’ where at least 60 percent of children actually have the birth defect.
At a press conference held at the GPHC yesterday, Dr. Mitchell said that some of the children had previous surgery for ‘club foot,’ and on some occasions, they would need a refining procedure to complete the process, as was the case with some patients seen by the doctors during the course of the week.
Some of the children have already been sent home, while some were admitted to the hospital for at least two days, as is customary after a surgery is conducted.
Heading the team of medical experts is Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgeon Dr. Claude Scott, who said that some children would not be able to fully walk until the next two to three months.
Dr. Scott noted that if club foot surgeries were to be conducted in Guyana, it would cost some US$5,000 for each foot that is corrected, taking into consideration surgeon’s fees and hospital fees.
Other major surgeries, such as straightening the legs of patients, he said, are much more complex procedures and would cost up to US$10,000.
Meanwhile, Dr. Scott noted that, for the three years in which the team has been coming to Guyana, it has had an 80 percent success rate, with a few recurrences, which have since been corrected.
He noted that he is impressed with the work that the orthopaedic surgeons at the GPHC have been doing, as they were trained on how to perform ‘club foot’ surgeries.
“I have seen the results of their work, and they have done a pretty good job and know quiet well how to do the surgery. So I think that, as the years go by, the work is becoming less for us and the locals are going to be doing much more of these surgeries. We are probably going to just monitor them as the years go by,” Dr. Scott told reporters.
In this regard, the team plans to continue with other training for the surgeons, not only in ‘club foot,’ but other orthopaedics procedures.
According to Dr. Scott, in the years to come, the team will bring other specialists in orthopaedics, such as spine surgeons, to join the group in training their counterparts at the Georgetown Hospital.
Chief Executive Officer of the hospital, Michael Khan, added that the training is part of capacity building. He explained that during the team’s last visit to Guyana, its members were able to train two resident doctors, who have since conducted ‘club foot’ surgeries; and according to Khan, from all indications, those procedures have been successful.
The medical team has been coming to Guyana for the past three years, and during that time, approximately 50 children have been operated upon for a variety of low extremity deformities.
Club foot is a birth defect; and without treatment, persons afflicted often appear to walk on their ankles, or on the sides of their feet.
It is a common birth defect, occurring in about one in every 1,000 live births. Approximately 50% of cases of club foot are bilateral. In most cases, it is an isolated dysmelia. Research shows that this occurs in males more often than in females.
Members of the medical team include Dr. Mitchell’s brother, Dr Harrison Mitchell; Emergency Medicine Physician Collie Oudkerk; Foot and Ankle Surgeon Brian Makower; Doctors Lee Zukerman and Elan Goldwyn; Nursing Student Alliyah Powell, and Medical Student Insal Ally; and Operating Room Nurses Debra Anthony, Lorianne Smith and Carol Turner.
At least four members of the team, including the Mitchell brothers, are Guyanese.
Some members of the team are scheduled to leave Guyana today.
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