Impact of a Yearly Head and Neck Surgery Trip to Rural Kenya

Abstract

Objective: Surgical specialty trips to third world countries have been both praised and criticized for contributions to low-resource regions. Our objective was to learn the impact of a yearly head and neck surgery trip through initial analysis of 2 years of patient data.

Method: Review of a prospectively maintained data repository cataloging surgical patients treated on a yearly head and neck surgical trip to Malindi, Kenya, during 2010 to 2011. Basic demographics, distance traveled for care, access to physicians, preoperative diagnosis, surgical procedure(s), and pathology results were recorded for each patient.

Results: In 2 years, 222 surgeries were performed. Age of patients ranged between 6 months and 85 years, and patient sex was evenly split. Half of the patients came from outside the town of Malindi, and a third traveled over 100 km for care. A total of 5.7% were known to be HIV positive. The majority reported access to a local physician, and two-thirds were seen by one for their chief complaint, yet very few patients were offered prior surgical treatment. The most common surgeries performed were adenotonsillectomy, hemithyroidectomy, and biopsy/keloid/lipoma excision. A wide variety of cases were performed, and there were no immediate surgical complications.

Conclusion: Annual surgical specialty trips to rural, resource-limited regions are worthwhile and offer procedures not otherwise available. It is important to collect patient, surgical, and pathology data on such trips. By continuing to collect valuable data, surgeons can determine the best procedures to teach local physicians and provide needed resources.