2020 guidelines for conducting plastic reconstructive short‐term surgical projects in low‐middle income countries

Abstract

Organizations from high-resource nations, including The Plastic Surgery Education Foundation (PSEF), began providing surgical services and training in low-income or middle-income countries (LMICs) in the 1950s. The primary model used has been the short-term surgical project (STSP), which sends surgical and medical specialists to LMICs for 1-4 weeks to perform surgery for patients that otherwise lack that

Capacity Building During Short‐Term Surgical Outreach Trips: A Review of What Guidelines Exist

“…Some outreach trips have proposed different methods of building financial capacity in surgical systems to assist in bridging the initial high cost of surgical scale-up, such as a sliding scale patient payment system to financially support trips and allow for funds to be allocated to larger health projects [48] or calculating and reimbursing all costs to the local community during the trip [22]. We recommend continued investigation into and incorporation of sustainable financial There is an established communication system between local physicians and the organization 1 [39] Pre-trip planning should include communication of pre-selected patients (if desired), the infrastructure to provide care, risk factors, and conditions needed to treat 6 [28,30,34,36,37,39,59] Collaborations with other organizations, such as local NGOs or other international outreach organizations, is recommended 4 [30,34,43,44] The volunteer team has a formal staffing plan and should be multidisciplinary 6 [41,43,47,50,55] Ensure there is a plan for referrals and follow-up 10 [28,30,36,38,39,41,47,50,55] Have post-trip debriefing and solicit feedback from multiple stakeholders to reflect and plan next trips programs and models during short-term surgical outreach trips. While many efforts to include capacity building during outreach trips were present in this study, actionable steps were noticeably missing.…”

Global surgery in the 21st century: The voice from Africa – We need a new model

“…Five billion people without access to safe surgery and anesthesia is a substantial obstacle; the article "2020 guidelines for conducting plastic reconstructive short-term surgical projects in low-middle-income countries" by Politis, et al shows us one viewpoint. 1 This editorial highlights a far too often overlooked perspective: one with proximity to the problem and contextual insight founded upon a deep cultural wisdom rooted in years of struggling to care for their fellow citizens and neighbors. This vantage point is from those who live and work in low-middle-income countries (LMICs), specifically East Africa, where the "anonymous Kenyan surgeon," mentioned in the acknowledgements of the above-mentioned article practices.…”

“…As a result, STSPs have been at a stand‐still for a year. Clearly, blitz surgery models are inferior to newer models that focus on education and skills training, an area that received limited focus in the guidelines 1 . We emphasize the need for consultation and true consensus as both essential and much more possible now than ever before in our history, if we are to progress in global health.…”

“…One's vantage point makes all the difference when analyzing an obstacle. Five billion people without access to safe surgery and anesthesia is a substantial obstacle; the article “2020 guidelines for conducting plastic reconstructive short‐term surgical projects in low‐middle‐income countries” by Politis, et al shows us one viewpoint 1 . This editorial highlights a far too often overlooked perspective: one with proximity to the problem and contextual insight founded upon a deep cultural wisdom rooted in years of struggling to care for their fellow citizens and neighbors.…”

“…While the guidelines by Politis et al indicate genuine attempts by surgical teams visiting LMICs to streamline their STSP activities, 1 COVID‐19 has vividly demonstrated to the world our inter‐connectivity. As a result, STSPs have been at a stand‐still for a year.…”