Addressing Unmet Surgical Needs in an Underserved Nigerian Community: Report of a 'Town and Gown' Initiative.

BACKGROUND: Access to quality and timely care prevents unnecessary deaths and morbidity from potentially curable surgical diseases. This study describes the magnitude of unmet surgical needs in a Nigerian community and describes the experiences garnered during a surgical outreach organized by a tertiary institution in an underserved community. METHODS: This is a descriptive study highlighting details of a surgical outreach to a community in south-Western part of Nigeria. The project was based on a collaboration between a University Teaching Hospital (gown) and the community (town). Details of the patients' demographic and disease characteristics as well as barriers to seeking medical care were obtained. The operational workflow, treatment offered, and outcomes are highlighted. Results are presented as descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Over a two-day period, 83 out of 3,056 patients who were screened had surgically treatable conditions (2.7%), predominantly hernias (37, 46.6%), goitres (13, 15.7%) and soft tissue swellings (9, 10.8%). The majority were adults (56, 67.5%) while 27 (32.5%) were in the paediatric age group. The mean duration of symptoms was 8.64 months ± 9.5 months. About half of the patients (46.9%) had never visited a medical facility on account of their index illnesses. Lack of funds was cited by many patients as the main reason for having not presented at a hospital. Sixty-three surgical operations were performed with no peri-operative adverse events. CONCLUSION: Lack of financial access was the major barrier to surgical care in the sampled community. Moving from 'gown to town' helped address a significant proportion of the unmet needs over a relatively short period. Tertiary hospitals can provide surgical oversight to communities within their jurisdiction using this approach.

CONTEXTE: L'accès à des soins de qualité et en temps opportun permet d'éiter les décès et la morbidité inutiles dus à des maladies chirurgicales potentiellement curables. Cette étude décrit l'ampleur des besoins chirurgicaux non satisfaits dans une communauté nigériane et décrit les expériences recueillies au cours d'une action chirurgicale organisée par une institution tertiaire dans une communauté mal desservie. MÉTHODES: Il s'agit d'une étude descriptive mettant en évidence les détails d'une action chirurgicale dans une communauté du sud-ouest du Nigeria. Le projet était basé sur une collaboration entre un hôpital universitaire (ville) et la communauté (ville). Les détails des caractéristiques démographiques et pathologiques des patients ainsi que les obstacles à la recherche de soins médicaux ont été obtenus. Le déroulement des opérations, le traitement proposé et les résultats sont mis en évidence. Les résultats sont présentés sous forme de statistiques descriptives. RÉSULTATS: Sur une période de deux jours, 83 des 3056 patients examinés présentaient des affections pouvant être traitées chirurgicalement (2,7 %), principalement des hernies (37, 46,6 %), des goitres (13, 15,7 %) et des tuméfactions des tissus mous (9, 10,8 %). La majorité des patients étaient des adultes (56, 67,5 %), tandis que 27 (32,5 %) appartenaient au groupe d'âge pédiatrique. La durée moyenne des symptômes était de 8,64 mois ±9,5 mois. Environ la moitié des patients (46,9 %) ne s'étaient jamais rendus dans un établissement médical en raison de leurs maladies index. Le manque de moyens financiers a été cité par de nombreux patients comme la principale raison pour laquelle ils ne s'étaient pas présentés à l'hôpital. Soixante-trois opérations chirurgicales ont été réalisées sans aucun événement indésirable périopératoire. CONCLUSION: Le manque d'accès financier était le principal obstacle aux soins chirurgicaux dans la communauté échantillonnée. Le passage de la ville à l'hôpital a permis de répondre à une proportion importante des besoins non satisfaits sur une période relativement courte. Les hôpitaux tertiaires peuvent fournir une supervision chirurgicale aux communautés de leur juridiction en utilisant cette approche. Mots clés: Chirurgie, Besoins non satisfaits, Nigeria, Communauté mal desservie.

Impact of Pain Management Workshop on the Knowledge and Attitude of Healthcare Workers and Opioid Utilization in a Nigerian Teaching Hospital.

BACKGROUND: Pain is a public health problem requiring serious attention. One major barrier to the provision of quality pain treatment in many countries is lack of training for healthcare workers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of pain education on the knowledge and attitude of healthcare workers, and opioid utilization in a university teaching hospital. METHODS: Pain management workshops were conducted for healthcare workers over a 12-month period. The modified "Knowledge and Attitudes Survey Regarding Pain" questionnaire was administered to participants pre- and post- training for each of the workshops. The total mark by each participant was entered into the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 16 software for windows (SPSS Inc., Chicago, Illinois, USA) for comparison of means for pre- and post-test. Changes in opioid utilization were evaluated. RESULTS: The pre-test and post-test questionnaires were filled by 715 and 700 participants respectively. The mean post-test score was significantly higher than the pre-test score (68% versus 49% respectively, p = 0.00001). The doctors scored significantly higher than the other groups (p < 0.0001) in the pre-test. The mean post-test scores were significantly higher than the corresponding mean pre-test scores for the various groups (p < 0.0001). Sustained increase (up to 60.4%) in total morphine utilization was observed during the training. CONCLUSION: There is a wide knowledge gap requiring regular training and re-training to achieve improved pain management and opioid utilization among healthcare workers. Inclusion of robust pain curricula in medical training programs will significantly improve pain management.

Management of neuropathic pain following traumatic brachial plexus injury with neurolysis and oral gabapentin: A case report.

Neuropathic pain responds poorly to common analgesics that effectively control nociceptive pain because its pathophysiology is different and it is usually associated with co-morbidities such as sleep disturbance, depression and anxiety. Patients with this chronic pain are sometimes left with neurolysis as the last resort. A 65-year-old male multiply-injured retiree presented with disabling pain following traumatic brachial plexus injury sustained from road traffic accident 5 years earlier. Other injuries resolved with therapy except the chronic severe burning and electrifying pain (VAS score 9) in the paralyzed left upper limb associated with allodynia and insomnia which was unresponsive to conventional analgesics. PainDETECT score was 29. A test supraclavicular block with 0.25% Bupivacaine was done, followed by chemical neurolysis one month later. He was placed on oral Gabapentin. The pain score a week post injection was 3 and has remained same 18 months post injection. Patient's level of satisfaction on 5 point Likert scale was 5. Chronic neuropathic pain following traumatic brachial plexus injury could be successfully managed by chemical neurolysis and oral gabapentin.

Feasibility study for a randomized clinical trial of bupivacaine, lidocaine with adrenaline, or placebo wound infiltration to reduce postoperative pain after laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Background: Short-term pain relief can be achieved by local anaesthetic infiltration of port sites at the end of laparoscopic surgery. This study aimed to assess feasibility of performing an RCT to evaluate short-term postoperative analgesia after laparoscopic surgery in Nigeria using two local anaesthetics for port-site infiltration versus saline placebo. Methods: This was a placebo-controlled, patient- and outcome assessor-blinded, external feasibility RCT. Patients undergoing elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy for symptomatic ultrasound-proven gallstones were randomized into three groups: lidocaine with adrenaline (epinephrine), bupivacaine or saline control. The feasibility of recruitment, compliance with randomized treatment allocation, and completion of pain and nausea outcome measures were evaluated. Pain was assessed at 2, 6, 12 and 24 h after surgery using a 0-10-point numerical rating scale (NRS) and a four-point verbal rating scale. Nausea was assessed using NRS at the same time points. Clinical outcomes were assessed only in patients who received the correct randomized treatment allocation. Results: Of 79 patients screened for eligibility, 69 were consented and randomized (23 per group). Overall, compliance with randomized treatment allocation was achieved in 64 patients (93 per cent). All pain and nausea assessments were completed in these 64 patients. On the NRS, most patients had moderate to severe pain at 2 h (39 of 64, 61 per cent), which gradually reduced. Only six patients (9 per cent) had moderate to severe pain at 24 h. Conclusion: Recruitment, compliance with the randomized allocation, and completion of pain outcome measures were satisfactory. This study demonstrates the feasibility of conducting a surgical RCT in a resource-limited setting. Registration number: ISRCTN 17667918 (https://www.isrctn.com).

A prospective study on the effectiveness of ketamine and diazepam used for conscious sedation in paediatric dental patients' management.

AIM: The need to manage children using safe, effective and inexpensive conscious sedation materials and techniques in paediatric dentistry is high. This study evaluated the safety and effectiveness of a combination of low dose ketamine (5 mg/kg) and diazepam (0.2 mg/kg) used for conscious sedation in healthy children undergoing paediatric dental procedures at a paediatric dental outpatient clinic over a 3-year period. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All children who were scheduled for conscious sedation between 2009 and 2012 were included in the study. All children received ketamine 5 mg/kg body weight in combination with diazepam 0.2 mg/kg body weight in a single oral dose for use as conscious sedation. Patients were considered sedated when the Ramsey Score was 2 or 3. Time of onset and duration of surgical procedures were recorded. Side effects during and after discharge were recorded. RESULTS: Twenty five patients participated in the study. The effectiveness of the sedation was 84.0%. The mean time of onset of action was 10.5 ± 7.2 minutes. All cases that needed additional sedation needed this after 35?36 minutes. Three cases (12.0%) developed high temperature in the night of the day of the procedure. There was a case (4.0%) of hallucination. CONCLUSION: Ketamine and diazepam as medication for conscious sedation was considered effective. The duration of effectiveness appears to be 35 minutes. The combination is considered safe for use for conscious sedation in healthy paediatric dental outpatients undergoing minor oral surgical procedures.