Several children undergo successful surgery for lower limb deformities

[www.inewsguyana.com] – After a four day visit to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) from a team of doctors from the Health Education and Relief Organisation (HERO), approximately twelve (12) individuals, primarily children, benefited from corrective surgeries for lower limb deformities.

The team, with assistance from staff at the hospital, performed at least 20 procedures, since some patients required two operations. Among the beneficiaries was a one-year child, who like the others, was born with chronic deformities. The majority of these patients were reportedly never treated.

According to a release from the institution, HERO’s Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Claude Scott pointed out that so far the patients were recovering well.

“We have had no complications; those who were ready for discharge, have already been sent home.”

Meanwhile, Dr. Mitchell stated that the response received has been very favourable, and the parents have been grateful. He added that the team had complete support from the hospital at every level from the senior administration to the surgical attendees.

The organisation first visited Guyana in 2006 to conduct outreaches and has since been visiting to perform similar surgeries on children with “club foot” and other lower extremity problems.

However, there was a gap between 2011 to now, and as such, Dr. John Mitchell noted that the organisation now plans to pick up from where it left off and will recommence its regular visits.

Clubfoot is a deformity in which an infant’s foot is turned inward, often so severely that the bottom of the foot faces sideways or even upward. According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons’s OrthoInfo, approximately one infant in every 1,000 live births will have clubfoot, making it one of the more common congenital (present at birth) foot deformities.