50 joint-replacement surgeries conducted at GPHC

Nov 17, 2022 News

---

…as hospital partners with US-based group

Kaieteur News – The Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) over the last weekend successfully conducted a total of 50 joint replacement surgeries through its collaboration with ‘Operation Walk’, a US non- profit medical organisation.

This was announced on Wednesday by Dr. David Samaroo, Head of Department of Orthopaedic at GPHC, during a Press Conference at the Hospital’s Resource Centre.

Dr. Samaroo briefly explained yesterday that ‘Operation Walk’ is no stranger to Guyana, and that it is a voluntary organisation, giving a gift of restoring mobility to patients, by replacing their joints.

‘Operation Walk’ he said has been partnering with the GPHC since 2018, and has been conducting a number of surgeries on its patients.

Speaking about their third visit, Dr. Samaroo said that the team which comprised of 52 persons including Surgeons, Physiotherapist, and Anesthesiologist just to name a few, arrived in Guyana between November 8^th and 10^th last.

The purpose of the visit he said, was basically to do hip and knee replacement (joint replacement) surgeries for 50 patients in Guyana. Prior to them coming, he said, local Surgeons here would have been tasked with the responsibility of screening the patients, prior to them undergoing surgery.

According to Dr. Samaroo, GPHC has a waiting list in excess of 200 patients for surgery. On average, the Hospital would normally get about two to three surgeries done per week.  “So to get 50 surgeries done over a period of three and a half days, we are quite elated and we were willing to work to get this backlog off our hands. The numbers of patients that were actually screened at a clinic Friday last, was just about 70 to 80 patients and Operation Walk actually further screened those patients narrowing down the number to 50,” he explained.

On Friday last, he stated, four joint replacement surgeries were done and over the following three days, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, the team would have done a total of 50 joint replacement surgeries.

“In fact, 55 joints were replaced which meant that five persons had both of their knee joint replaced,” he added.

In addition to the surgeries, Dr. Samaroo stated that they have also benefitted from the organization by sending a few of its staff from the hospital to Maryland for observership and for some amount of training, and that “has really positively impacted our joint replacement program here at the GPHC, and that has actually enhanced our service here and allowed us to develop more surgeons and more teams to do joint replacement surgeries.”

The patients who underwent the surgeries he said, were mostly older persons who would have been kept for approximately 24 to 36 hours after surgery. He also said that so far no post-operative complications have been reported.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the GPHC, Dr. Robbie Rambarran yesterday at the Press Conference expressed gratitude to the team and stated that with two to three surgeries usually done per week at the hospital, having 50 done over the past weekend is quite an achievement. According to him, at private hospitals, a joint replacement surgery would cost roughly $2 million in Guyana.

The CEO added that in the future, they hope to have the service rolled out to other health facilities across the country.

Medical Director for Operation Walk Maryland, Dr. Paul Khanuja, during his brief remarks yesterday said that having concluded the 55 surgeries in total, they would have now conducted 163 surgeries in Guyana.

He mentioned that it has been “a wonderful experience and opportunity for us to see, how much the hospital is capable of doing. And so a lasting impact is an important part of what we do, it’s amazing to help the patients on an individual level, but just as important, is to know that we help change health care delivery, so you can continue to grow and improve.”

Dr. Khanuja also said that Operation Walk is committed to what they do and as a result there will be another team next year and they “are looking for further collaboration to grow this, so we can help more people of Guyana.”

Two of the patients, Merna Agard from Schoonord, West Bank Demerara and Donna Rajkumar from New Amsterdam told members of the media yesterday that for over 10 years they would have been suffering with knee pain. And having had a successful operation they feel very elated and good.

Speaking about the experience with both GPHC and the Operation Walk team, Agard said it was very good, and they were very attentive to her. Rajkumar, said that for a long time she suffered and now having done surgery she’s ready to get back on her feet and get back to normalcy.

---

---