24 undergo brain surgery at Mulago Hospital

Nov 17, 2013

TWENTY four patients with major brain complications have undergone successful surgeries during a one week Neurosurgery camp at Mulago

By Violet Nabatanzi

TWENTY four patients with major brain complications have undergone successful surgeries during a one week Neurosurgery camp at Mulago National referral hospital. 

The surgeries were carried out by a team of surgeons from Duke University North Carolina USA with the help of Ugandan surgeons. 

The team expected to operate more than 40 people but they managed to operate a few of them because some of the cases took long hours than expected. 

Speaking in an interview the head of Neurosurgery ward Dr. Michael Muhumuza said that the patients, who were prepared and not worked on, will be operated by Mulago surgeons and those with complicated cases will have to wait for the next camp.

Muhumuza said. “A major complicated case took about eight hours,” The patients’ also included six children with congenital defects.

Some of the cases that were managed include Brain tumors, Spinal code tumors, congenital defects and head injuries.

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Dr. Gleason Brooke from the University of Duke. Photo by Esther Namirimu

A brain tumor is an abnormal growth of cells within the brain, which can be cancerous or non-cancerous (benign). 

Muhumuza added that during the camp, they faced with the problem of enough space in the theatre. “Although we had three theatres for our patients we would have loved to have more,” 

Some of the symptoms of brain tumor include; headaches which don’t improve with pain killers, sight problems and nausea among others.

The hospital’s director Dr. Baterana Byarugaba said government is finalizing plans to do all cases of Neurosurgeries in the Country than referring patients abroad.

He appealed to Boda-Boda Cyclists and passengers to use helmets in order to minimize cases of head injuries.

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