Surgical team from India to visit PNG

A surgical team from India will be visiting Papua New Guinea to provide open heart surgeries and check patients living with heart conditions this week.
Pacific International Hospital chief information officer and general manager corporate affairs Kit Bennetts told The National that three to four specialists would be in Port Moresby for the work.
“The purpose of their visit is to do a survey on patients with heart conditions and provide open heart surgeries,” Bennetts said.
“This surgical doctors are classified as world-class heart surgery experts and come every year to utilise our equipment.
“PIH currently has four to five patients with heart conditions and their visit will help treat the disease and bring back a soul to live properly.”
Bennetts said another surgical team from the United States would also pay a visit in May to provide free cardiac surgeries.
He said they were religious therapists and would be focusing on operating kids who had a hole in their hearts or other heart problems.
He said what they did was gave medicine to put a kid to sleep to resist any pain.
“The cardiac surgeon makes an incision (cut) and skews a little pipe right into the artery up to the heart while watching it on the x-ray,” Bennetts said.
“They then repair the defect with a special patch that covers the hole.”
He said the child was then placed on a heart-lung bypass machine so that the heart could be opened to do the surgery.
“On average children spent three to four days in hospital before going home,” Bennetts said.
Complications such as bleeding and infections were rare.
The Pacific International Hospital at Port Moresby is the epitome of excellence in multi-specialty healthcare in PNG, offering round-the clock care and emergency and ambulance services.
A world class infrastructure, supported by cutting edge technology and a dedicated team of healthcare professionals is its hallmark.