When three Steamboat Springs professionals working in hand surgical procedure and remedy traveled in early March to Da Nang, Vietnam on a medical mission journey, one of many surgical procedures included eradicating a second thumb from a 3-year-old woman’s hand.
The kid’s mom informed hand therapist Emily Tjosvold that her daughter would have been ignored in Vietnamese society as a result of duplicate thumb deformity. However, after the surgical procedure, the kid will solely have a small scar.
“It jogged my memory how lucky we’re to have entry to specialty orthopedic care on this nation and in our neighborhood,” mentioned Tjosvold, an higher extremity specialist with UCHealth SportsMed Clinic.
Tjosvold joined longtime Doctor Assistant Joan Donham and Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Patrick Johnston from Steamboat Orthopaedic & Backbone Institute as a part of a Touching Palms mission journey. Touching Palms is a nonprofit of the American Society for Surgical procedure of the Hand that goals to offer life-changing hand surgical procedures, rehabilitation and medical coaching in underserved communities.
The week of labor and instructing in Vietnam included three U.S. hand surgeons performing roughly 40 surgical procedures below restricted circumstances, and advising surgeons and medical college students. After a 14-hour flight from California to Vietnam, the crew instantly began working in a hospital triage clinic to see which sufferers ought to obtain surgical procedures below the time constraints of the journey. Johnston mentioned the prioritized surgical procedures could possibly be completed effectively as a great instructing alternative.
The professionals mentioned one of the emotional elements of the journey was solely having the ability to carry out surgical procedures on about half of the potential sufferers who had traveled to the Touching Palms mission.
“All of those surgical procedures are essential for the household and the people for his or her future,” Donham mentioned. “What we’ve got and what they lack, realizing that we might help them and do some life-changing surgical procedures, that was emotional and rewarding.”
Emily Tjosvold, an higher extremity specialist with UCHealth SportsMed Clinic in Steamboat Springs, instructs Vietnamese medical professionals in early March in Da Nang.Emily Tjosvold/Courtesy picture
The doctor assistant mentioned a lot of the accidents have been congenital deformities that have been addressed when the sufferers have been younger or stemmed from outdated trauma or accidents that weren’t repaired or insufficiently repaired. One elementary faculty aged boy had such extreme previous burns on his palm and fingers that scarring has brought about his hand to remain in a claw form the place he couldn’t transfer his fingers. The medical mission crew took pores and skin grafts from the kid’s abdomen to restore perform to the hand.
Johnston mentioned he was struck with medical tradition shock evaluating the high-tech medical instruments and provides obtainable for surgical procedures at house in comparison with these on the mission journey. Whereas Johnston has entry to a number of sizes of medical-grade instruments and drills, in Vietnam, the surgeons used a big construction-style Makita drill coated in a sterile plastic bag.
Johnston makes use of a brand new noticed blade for each surgical procedure, whereas the Vietnamese surgeons could use one noticed blade for a 12 months. Among the surgical procedures throughout the journey have been occurring two at a time in a single surgical room. One of many U.S. docs overheated within the scorching and humid Vietnamese surgical atmosphere (carrying heavy reusable fabric working robes) and laid on the ground and vomited, in keeping with Johnston, who additionally turned nauseated from the warmth.
Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Patrick Johnston, from Steamboat Orthopaedic & Backbone Institute, seated, works in a surgical procedure in early March in Vietnam as a part of a Touching Palms medical mission journey.SOSI/Courtesy picture
Whereas Johnston can order particularly sized sterile orthopedic plates and screws for surgical procedures, in Vietnam, the surgeons had a field of various screws that have been typically reduce to suit with a big bolt cutter on a aspect surgical desk. The Steamboat surgeon was so moved that he’s beginning an area assortment course of to retain used surgical screws and plates of all sizes to be used in future Touching Palms mission journeys.
Johnston hopes some residents will donate to Touching Palms through the web site ASSH.org/touchinghands. Memorial Regional Well being in Craig and UCHealth Yampa Valley Medical Middle each supported Touching Palms to assist the sufferers in Vietnam.
The crew mentioned the journey was emotional however rewarding, they usually hope to journey for a follow-up medical mission journey subsequent 12 months to carry out a few of the surgical procedures that needed to wait.
“Many youngsters acquired life-changing surgical procedures that will not have been offered in any other case,” Tjosvold mentioned. “The households of the youngsters and the adults that acquired surgical procedures have been so caring and type. They traveled from far-off and lived within the hospital after surgical procedure for a lot of days.”
The journey sparked a way of outside-the-box considering since medical gear and provides have been restricted, the crew mentioned.
“We needed to be inventive and suppose outdoors your regular planning for surgical procedure and suppose somewhat extra about how can we accomplish this, seeing what’s obtainable and dealing with what was there,” Donham mentioned.
Johnston, who additionally went on a medical mission journey in 2016 to Argentina, mentioned he discovered some resourceful surgical tips from the Vietnamese docs with restricted devices that might be useful on future mission journeys.
“The largest issues that I take again are that I’m extremely grateful for what we’ve got medically as sufferers and as suppliers,” Johnston mentioned. “We neglect a few of the disparities between us and different elements of the world.”