Surgeons operate in WHP

 A TEAM of specialist surgical and dental officers treated people in the Western Highlands who suffer from oro-maxillo-facial (OMF), head and neck diseases.

The team drawn from Port Moresby General Hospital, Goroka and Mt Hagen was at Mt Hagen Hospital from May 20 to 24. They screened more than 30 patients and operated on 19 of them.

The team led by PNG chief OMF and dental surgeon Dr Matupi Apaio initially selected 26 patients to operate on but had to drop four due to insufficient time and for lack of blood.

The team included Dr Paki Molumi, Dr Larry Lagatiana, Dr William Mol, a plastic and reconstruction surgeon from Goroka and three second-year dental officers from Goroka. 

They were joined by Dr Sam Endican and ENT registrar Dr Laiam Kirau, both based in Mt Hagen.

The types of cases operated on included tongue cancers, maxilla and mandible cancers, mandible fractures, nasal angiofibroma, cleft lip and palate and cosmetic defects.

Apaio said the involvement of experts from different fields of ENT, dental, plastic and reconstruction in one team to attend to the neck and head region pathologies was an excellent idea and needed to be supported by the national health department. 

Endican said the visit was a success with most patients requiring surgery for oro-maxillo-facial and head and neck cancers being operated on successfully.

He said the patients would require chemotherapy and radiotherapy for the cancers to be treated successfully.

Dr James Kintwa, the chief executive officer of the Western Highlands Provincial Health Authority, said the Mt Hagen Provincial Hospital, as the highlands referral hospital, was the central location where such teams could come to. This is because access to such services could be easy for people in the highlands region.