Abstract
Background: Surgical volunteer missions (SVMs) have become a popular approach for reducing the burden of surgical disease worldwide. The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcomes of 12 surgical missions between 2006 and 2018 from the mission entitled “Operation Giving Back Bohol” Tagbilaran, Philippines and discuss the lessons learned during these missions in particular seven challenges that every volunteer surgeon should be familiar with. Methods: This was a retrospective descriptive study of prospectively collected data on all patients treated during one SVM. The data collected included gender, age, diagnosis, types of surgeries performed, and perioperative adverse events. Results: During the study period 1327 operations were performed (842 females (63.4%) and 485 males (36.6%); (male-to-female ratio 0.59); mean age 37 ± 18 years. The majority of operations were for thyroid disease (31.6%), followed by hernia (17.3%), hysterectomies/salpingo-oophorectomies (12.2%), soft tissue tumors (9.9%), cleft lip/palate repairs (7.2%), breast (6.4%), gallbladder disease (4.7%), cataract (2.9%), parotid masses (1.4%) and others (6.4%). For each mission, there were an average 5.5 days of operating, performing a median of 105.5 (80–148) cases per mission. There were 27 complications (2%), of which, 22 were postoperative bleeding and two temporary tracheostomies. The mortality rate was 0.15% (2/1327). In one patient, the family withdrew care following compassionate last ditch effort thyroidectomy for advanced cancer and one patient died as a result of intracranial bleeding from a brain tumor, which was unrecognized before mastectomy. Conclusions: Surgical volunteerism missions are safe and valuable in lessening the burden of surgical disease globally when performed in an organized fashion and with continuity of care. However, there is need for standardization of surgical care provided during SVMs and creation of a world-wide database of all SVMs, and each surgeon and others who participate in these mission should be familiar with critical elements and challenges for the successful mission.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 15-21 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | International Journal of Surgery |
| Volume | 60 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 1 2018 |
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Keywords
- Developing countries
- General surgery
- Global health
- Gynecology
- Medical geography
- Operation giving back
- Organizational challenges
- Surgical volunteerism missions
- Telemedicine
- Third world countries
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Surgery
Cite this
Outcomes of 1,327 patients operated on through twelve multispecialty surgical volunteerism missions : A retrospective cohort study. / Latifi, Rifat -; Rivera, Renato; Gachabayov, Mahir; Borja Chiong, Maria Melinda; Noyes, R. Dirk; Kleinmann, Michael; Baluyot, Fancy S.; Tilley, Elizabeth; Samson, David; El-Menyar, Ayman.
In: International Journal of Surgery, Vol. 60, 01.12.2018, p. 15-21.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Outcomes of 1,327 patients operated on through twelve multispecialty surgical volunteerism missions
T2 - A retrospective cohort study
AU - Latifi, Rifat -
AU - Rivera, Renato
AU - Gachabayov, Mahir
AU - Borja Chiong, Maria Melinda
AU - Noyes, R. Dirk
AU - Kleinmann, Michael
AU - Baluyot, Fancy S.
AU - Tilley, Elizabeth
AU - Samson, David
AU - El-Menyar, Ayman
PY - 2018/12/1
Y1 - 2018/12/1
N2 - Background: Surgical volunteer missions (SVMs) have become a popular approach for reducing the burden of surgical disease worldwide. The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcomes of 12 surgical missions between 2006 and 2018 from the mission entitled “Operation Giving Back Bohol” Tagbilaran, Philippines and discuss the lessons learned during these missions in particular seven challenges that every volunteer surgeon should be familiar with. Methods: This was a retrospective descriptive study of prospectively collected data on all patients treated during one SVM. The data collected included gender, age, diagnosis, types of surgeries performed, and perioperative adverse events. Results: During the study period 1327 operations were performed (842 females (63.4%) and 485 males (36.6%); (male-to-female ratio 0.59); mean age 37 ± 18 years. The majority of operations were for thyroid disease (31.6%), followed by hernia (17.3%), hysterectomies/salpingo-oophorectomies (12.2%), soft tissue tumors (9.9%), cleft lip/palate repairs (7.2%), breast (6.4%), gallbladder disease (4.7%), cataract (2.9%), parotid masses (1.4%) and others (6.4%). For each mission, there were an average 5.5 days of operating, performing a median of 105.5 (80–148) cases per mission. There were 27 complications (2%), of which, 22 were postoperative bleeding and two temporary tracheostomies. The mortality rate was 0.15% (2/1327). In one patient, the family withdrew care following compassionate last ditch effort thyroidectomy for advanced cancer and one patient died as a result of intracranial bleeding from a brain tumor, which was unrecognized before mastectomy. Conclusions: Surgical volunteerism missions are safe and valuable in lessening the burden of surgical disease globally when performed in an organized fashion and with continuity of care. However, there is need for standardization of surgical care provided during SVMs and creation of a world-wide database of all SVMs, and each surgeon and others who participate in these mission should be familiar with critical elements and challenges for the successful mission.
AB - Background: Surgical volunteer missions (SVMs) have become a popular approach for reducing the burden of surgical disease worldwide. The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcomes of 12 surgical missions between 2006 and 2018 from the mission entitled “Operation Giving Back Bohol” Tagbilaran, Philippines and discuss the lessons learned during these missions in particular seven challenges that every volunteer surgeon should be familiar with. Methods: This was a retrospective descriptive study of prospectively collected data on all patients treated during one SVM. The data collected included gender, age, diagnosis, types of surgeries performed, and perioperative adverse events. Results: During the study period 1327 operations were performed (842 females (63.4%) and 485 males (36.6%); (male-to-female ratio 0.59); mean age 37 ± 18 years. The majority of operations were for thyroid disease (31.6%), followed by hernia (17.3%), hysterectomies/salpingo-oophorectomies (12.2%), soft tissue tumors (9.9%), cleft lip/palate repairs (7.2%), breast (6.4%), gallbladder disease (4.7%), cataract (2.9%), parotid masses (1.4%) and others (6.4%). For each mission, there were an average 5.5 days of operating, performing a median of 105.5 (80–148) cases per mission. There were 27 complications (2%), of which, 22 were postoperative bleeding and two temporary tracheostomies. The mortality rate was 0.15% (2/1327). In one patient, the family withdrew care following compassionate last ditch effort thyroidectomy for advanced cancer and one patient died as a result of intracranial bleeding from a brain tumor, which was unrecognized before mastectomy. Conclusions: Surgical volunteerism missions are safe and valuable in lessening the burden of surgical disease globally when performed in an organized fashion and with continuity of care. However, there is need for standardization of surgical care provided during SVMs and creation of a world-wide database of all SVMs, and each surgeon and others who participate in these mission should be familiar with critical elements and challenges for the successful mission.
KW - Developing countries
KW - General surgery
KW - Global health
KW - Gynecology
KW - Medical geography
KW - Operation giving back
KW - Organizational challenges
KW - Surgical volunteerism missions
KW - Telemedicine
KW - Third world countries
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85055863282&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85055863282&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ijsu.2018.10.033
DO - 10.1016/j.ijsu.2018.10.033
M3 - Article
C2 - 30359780
AN - SCOPUS:85055863282
VL - 60
SP - 15
EP - 21
JO - International Journal of Surgery
JF - International Journal of Surgery
SN - 1743-9191
ER -