Rotational rural surgery for the poor in developing countries

Abstract

Radio and television announcements advised patients with surgical problems in the rural areas of Osun State, Nigeria, to report at any of the nine zonal headquarters of the state which were closest to their homes in order to receive free treatment. Over 1000 patients reported and 801 received operations on a rotational basis within nine weeks. We studied 719 of these patients, ages between 4 months and 87 years, who had detailed follow-up records. There were 14 different procedures ranging from a hernia repair to the separation of syndactyly. Complications included postoperative pain, haematoma and late superficial wound infection. We concluded that rotational free surgery can help the poor in the third-world countries to receive treatment that they would otherwise not be able to afford.

A Bibliometric Analysis of Published Literature in Postoperative Pain in Elderly Patients in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

“…Twenty of them were duplicated and were deleted. After further evaluation of the 60 remaining papers, only 15 were included in the bibliometric data analysis [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29]. The main reasons for exclusion were: 28 articles-age group with adults; 4 articles-the age group with children; 6 articles-had no postoperative pain; 4 articles-evaluated chronic pain; 3 articles-addressed surgical technique and costs.…”

La Chirurgie Foraine : Une Solution Aux Problemes D’acces Aux Soins Chirurgicaux Des Populations Rurales

“…La chirurgie itinérante ou foraine est une pratique inspirée de la médecine humanitaire et de catastrophe dans laquelle des infrastructures médicales mobiles sont déployées au plus près des sinistrés (Ginzburg 2010). L'objectif est de proposer une chirurgie de proximité aux populations présentant des difficultés d'accès aux soins (Thomas 2009, Aderounmu 2008). L'aspect forain des soins, et le nombre important des patients opérés impliquent des conditions particulières de travail qui peuvent impacter la qualité des gestes effectués.…”

“…Par ailleurs, les populations rurales présentent des difficultés majeures d'accès aux soins chirurgicaux du fait de leur coût relativement élevé. Des études pilotes ont déjà montré qu'il était possible pour résoudre ces problèmes, de proposer à ces populations un programme de chirurgie foraine (Thomas 2009, Aderounmu 2008). Pour amortir les coûts, ces programmes prennent la forme d'interventions chirurgicales de masses qui peuvent susciter un scepticisme raisonnable sur la qualité des soins.…”

A simplified protocol for evaluating and monitoring urethral stricture patients minimizes cost without compromising patient outcome

“…Cost has always been an inhibiting factor when accessing surgical care in many areas of Africa and the developing countries. 21–23 Ogbonna 9 noted that only 31% of the patients with urethral stricture that he studied were able to afford the cost of contrast urethrography. Reducing the number of pre- and postoperative diagnostic procedures and eliminating the expenses of travel for routine follow-up visits can only help to make surgery more affordable to many needy patients.…”