A team of three doctors of the Department of General Surgery and Digestive B-two deputies and a resident-Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre in Madrid has operated for inguinal hernia and hernias in 106 patients in Ecuador, providing a total of 121 procedures. The trip, coordinated by the health center, has lasted 15 days and it also involved a surgeon at the Princess Sophia, one of the Infanta Leonor and two anesthetists of Santa Cristina and Infanta Sofía, respectively. The seven professionals have carried out interventions in the Health Corporation of Father Damien, in collaboration with Operation Hernia Foundation, British charity nonprofit.

Since his arrival in the Commonwealth of Independence, Esmeraldas Province, an area in which they work, surgeons and anesthesiologists are confronted with several problems, as the health corporation is a small complex of single-storey houses. In one of them had an operating room equipped with a table and old surgical lamp. Was placed over a table and a lamp with halogen bulbs, both separated by a screen to operate two patients at a time, far from the essential requirements in the West.

Of the 106 patients after surgery, several were children aged between 4 and 11 years of age. All had the most hernias and hernias of varying degrees, some complicated surgical management. This disease is a public health problem in many developing countries due to lack of resources, leading to disability and even death. It is estimated that in rural areas of South America, fewer than one in five pathologies of this type are operated.

In the province of Esmeraldas live 385,000 people, with an incidence of 200 per 100,000 inguinal hernias, ie, about 770 people have them. It is estimated that the cost of surgery ranges between 500 and 700 dollars, compared to a base salary of $ 220 monthly official.

The expedition was organized in collaboration with the Obra Social Caja Madrid and businesses Covidien, Gore SA, and Smith & Nephew. In addition, hospitals have provided medical supplies. Last year two of the three surgeons who have participated in this mission and an anesthetist at the Hospital 12 de Octubre coordinated a similar trip to Nigeria. They operated on 46 patients.

Solidarity also in Cameroon and Uganda

On the other hand, medical residents and Maxillofacial Surgery Ophthalmology October 12, along with a professional Fundación Jiménez Díaz, participated in a health cooperative project, this time in Saint Martin de Porres Hospital, located in the capital Yaoundé Cameroon. Maxillofacial surgeons performed 21 surgeries and many other medical assistance. In terms of Ophthalmology, the project consisted of daily assistance and advice to create a new query in this specialty in the hospital.

In addition, practitioners of Obstetrics and Gynecology at this hospital have donated the collection of inscriptions from the first course in solidarity on progress in this area to defray the cost of construction of a maternity hospital in the center of Padre Pio Kanwnege Health, Uganda. This is a collaborative project with the NGO Africa Direct, has also allowed the purchase of a scanner for these facilities.