Plastic Surgery Camp October 2011 (Nigeria)

Report by Marijn Huijing

The team consists of:
Cees Spronk, leader of the team and plastic surgeon
Jan Hochtritt, plastic surgeon
Rob Niemeijer, anaesthesiologist
Geke Hoeksma, assistant anaesthetist
Fatima van Klaveren-Ben Bouazza, operation assistant
Marijn Huijing, trainee plastic surgeon

Operation-hats and cricket boxes…

While in the Netherlands autumn is on its way African sounds wake me up. After a cool starlit night, the morning heat greets us when we see the vast plains of the savannah from our porch. The morning sun shows bright colours and happy children passing our house on their way to school. We are in Mangu in the north of Nigeria, a six hours’ drive from the capital Abuja.

Today will be an exciting day. Yesterday more than 150 patients were seen in the policlinic and the operation theatre was prepared. On arrival in the hospital today’s patients are queuing for the operation. Today is the first day for operations, and the new ward will opened which was built with Dutch aid. For this brilliant day an important delegation of the Dutch Embassy has been invited .

It is early October 2011 when the first plastic surgery team of this year can go to the COCIN Hospital and Rehabilitation Centre in Mangu. Since the 1970s Cees and Neeltje Spronk have been involved in the ins and outs of the hospital, first for the treatment of leprosy patients and now every two years for the treatment of a great variety of patients who need plastic surgery.

Before departure there is some uncertainty about the safety in Nigeria. Political turmoil is reported near Jos, 80 kilometres from Mangu. There is much contact with employees of the hospital and the reports are favourable: we can go! Local doctors and churches widely spread the message that a plastic surgery team would come to Mangu in October, which resulted in an enormous crowd.

From near and far patients come with a great variety of problems. We see many burn contractures and many urogenital abnormalities, schisms and connatural deformations of the hand. The large number of children with burns of mainly the hands truly reveals the poignant situation and shows the limited possibilities here to treat burns. Dazed and brave and sometimes with some tears in their eyes they go to the white doctor. Fortunately the last years much has been done to realize a new centre for treating burns with skilled staff. Hopefully sufficient money will be raised to finance this completely.

That day the large crowd on the porch in front of the policlinic does not become smaller. The operation lists are easily filled. Although we plan as efficiently as possible it is inevitable after one day that some patients will have to be treated in March 2012. In the next two weeks more than 80 patients can be operated upon, so that the two wards are completely full at the end of our stay.

Sometimes we have to improvise with the limited means in the operation theatre, which is a great difference with the fully equipped hospital at home. Fortunately our team is creative: Rob and Geke know how to deal with the saturation gauge and some ketamine, Fatima turns one single operation set into three working ones, and meanwhile the old autoclave is rattling in the adjoining room. These two weeks the local boys do their utmost to make everything go well and cooperating with them is very nice.

After two weeks of operations we look back on a busy but successful mission. Due to circumstances we could not operate upon all the patients, which makes the need for a team in March 2012 much bigger. Aiki da godiya, a dawo lafiya!

Marijn A. Huijing

TUESDAY 11 OCTOBER 2011, OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE NEW WARD

After years of planning, raising funds and consequently building the new ward it can finally be officially opened by the Commissioner of Health of Plateau State in the presence of Annemieke van Soelen of the Dutch Embassy, the mayor of Mangu and church leaders of COCIN! Of course the initiators Cees and Neeltje Spronk were also present.