MU team of doctors returns from Haiti

MU team of doctors returns from Haiti

Mangalore Today News Network

Udupi, Mar 31: A team of Manipal University doctors led by Dr. Ramachandra Kamath, the head of the Department of Public Health, returned to Mangalore after collaborating with the AMDA Multinational Medical Mission of Japan to provide medical relief to the earthquake victims of Haiti. The University felicitated the successful team on March 30, Wednesday. 

The team of doctors comprised Dr. Dinesh KVN, orthopedic surgeon of KMC Manipal; Dr. Ashwin Pai, general surgeon of KMC Mangalore; and Mr. Raghavendra Nayak, the trauma technician of Kasturba Hospital, Manipal. Dr. Martin Ma, an anesthesiologist of Toronto General Hospital, Canada, later joined the team. 

Dr. Kamath said that the team provided its services at Hospital De Secouras, Gonaives, a short distance from Port Au Prince, the capital of Haiti. They handled emergency cases in the casualty and treated inpatients waiting for surgical care. Most of the cases were injuries and open fractures. 

The team performed several surgeries including skin grafts on people who had sustained injuries during the earthquake. Some of the operations involved the removal of a gangrenous foot, dynamic compression plating for the fracture of a femur, closed reduction and plaster cast application for several cases of fracture, including emergency cases and post-operative care. The team also handled cases of appendicitis and hernia.

Manipal University has previously collaborated with AMDA, Japan to provide medical care in places ravaged by the Bhuj earthquake, the Bihar floods, and the tsunami.