GPHC in campaign to reduce hernia backlog
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─ 50 persons benefitted thus far for December
DPI, Guyana, Tuesday, December 18, 2018
Orthopaedic and general surgeons at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) and the New Amsterdam Regional Hospital have embarked on a campaign to reduce the backlog of patients requiring hernia surgeries.
A total of 64 hernia repairs were completed over one weekend in December with 50 patients benefitting.
According to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GPHC, Retired Brigadier George Lewis, this brings the backlog of needed hernia repairs down by 70 per cent. Lewis was speaking at a press conference hosted by the hospital and the general surgery department.
Patients of all age ranges underwent inguinal hernia surgery, an operation to repair a weakness in the abdominal wall that allows abdominal contents to slip into a narrow tube called the inguinal canal in the groin region.
Lewis clarified that though there are remaining patients to undergo the surgery this is not necessarily considered a backlog. His comment was supported by Head of General Surgery, Dr. Navindranauth Rambaran who noted that patients who were operated on were able to be active and mobile within 24 hours. He added that this initiative’s first phase could serve as a model and “needs to be examined to point out room for improvement and be used as a template for other areas of improvement.”
Looking towards 2019, the hospital’s administration is hoping to initiate phase two of Operation Hernia and begin a new initiative; Operation Fibroids. These initiatives are geared towards rendering surgical interventions to those in need not only in Georgetown but throughout the country.
Delicia Haynes.
Images: Karime Peters.