Kampala, Uganda - For the patients lucky enough to get it, brain surgery is only the beginning. Urgent medical care is needed to cope with the complications from the operation, from blood loss, to restoring consciousness and body temperature, to dealing with symptoms from nausea to vomiting.
Yet in Mengo hospital and other locations in the developing world, this care is almost an afterthought. Intensive care teams dealing with surgery patients operate under heavy workloads, with fewer resources and equipment available than in developed countries, and with little training.
Carmelo Graffagnino, MD, and Duke Neuro Intensive Care Unit (ICU) nurses Christine Locascio, Danielle Runnels, Charles Spencer, and Ashby Hayes recently traveled to Uganda's capital to make it easier for doctors and nurses in Mengo hospital provide that care.
Their trip was part of a larger ongoing effort from Duke Global Neurosurgery and Neuroscience (DGNN). For the past decade, DGNN’s founder, neurosurgeon Michael Haglund, MD, PhD has worked to help improve infrastructure and training for neuroscience care in Uganda and its neighbor Kenya. By providing training, equipment and logistical help, Haglund hopes to improve the Ugandan health system’s ability to provide neurosurgical care. Read more about DGNN here.