Staggered Free Surgical Outreach Approach: A Viable Option of Outreach During Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Background: One of the regular programs organized by Islamic Medical Association of Nigeria (IMAN) is a medical outreach in which patients are treated free of charge. This laudable program has been hampered by Covid-19 pandemic. We devised a staggered outreach protocol to cater for a limited number of medical and surgical patients, screened, investigated and treated under Covid-19 prevention compliant measures over two weeks. The objective of this study is to assess the surgical procedures done during the IMAN staggered surgical outreach and to report the outcome of such procedures.
Method: This is a retrospective study of 2-week staggered surgical outreach conducted by IMAN at IMAN Hospital, Sokoto. Names of potential beneficiaries were collected and screened at various locations. Limited number patients were investigated and operated at different days to avoid overcrowding and Covid-19 transmission. Data was collected via a proforma and analyzed using IBM SPSS 25 version. The results were presented in percentage, mean± standard deviation, tables and charts.
Results: Twenty-seven patients had surgical interventions during the staggered surgical outreach with mean age of 41.5 ± 22.0 years and a range of 4 to 90 years. The male to female ratio was 26:1. The cases managed were hernia (33.3%) ± benign prostatic hyperplasia, lipoma (18.5%), hydrocoele (14.8%), testicular tumour (7.4%), subacute appendicitis (3.7%) and ganglion cyst (3.7%). The surgical interventions offered were herniorrhaphy (33.3%), excisional biopsy (22.2%), herniotomy (14.8%), hydrocelectomy (7.4%), orchidectomy (7.4%), prostate biopsy (7.4%) and appendicectomy (3.7%). One patient developed hematocoele post herniorrhaphy which was drained.
Conclusion: Staggered surgical outreach is a viable option for free surgical outreach. Hernia, hydrocoele, lipoma, testicular tumour and appendicitis can be operated with good outcome