Kabale Regional Referral Hospital and KABSOM Doctors train in Laparoscopic surgeons

 Kabale Regional Referral Hospital together with the KAB University School of Medicine (KABSOM)  are hosting a team of medical workers from the Rural Surgery Innovations of India who will train and impart laparoscopic surgery skills among staff and students.

According to Senior Lecturer and Head of the Department of Surgery, Dr. Robert Mugarura, laparoscopic surgery is a type of surgical procedure that allows a surgeon to access the inside of the abdomen (tummy) and pelvis without having to make large incisions in the skin. “With this type of surgery, the advantage is that the patient has less pain and the incision is small which heals quickly, facilitating an early return to normally. The traditional incisions have been big, taking a long time to heal and sometimes the wound gets infected”, he added.

Dr. Mugarura has said that this type of surgery uses gas insufflationless surgery does not require specialized equipment and the use of gas. “The usual laparoscopic surgeries require you  to insufflate the abdomen with carbon-dioxide so that there is enough room for the cameras and the equipment to manipulate”, he said.

Dr. Mugarura further notes that this surgery is practical for the rural setting in this region. “It is a modification of the normal or open surgery, and can be easily adapted to. We are a university operating in a regional referral hospital serving a rural setting. Therefore we shall champion this type of surgery as a service in the lower health centers in this region”, he added.

The team from India, led by Dr. Gnanaraj Jesudian has also donated an assortment of equipment to the medical school. Dr. Jesudian notes that in laparoscopy, the surgeon makes several small cuts on the body and then inserts a tube, camera and surgical instruments and then does the operation. The team has conducted over three surgeries on women with infertility problems  to establish the possible causes.

Dr. Mugarura notes that the team of Indian doctors will be conducting a series of workshops throughout the week at the KABSOM hostel in Makanga aimed at training staff and students of KABSOM, a doctor from  Mengo hospital and other doctors from Kanungu hospital and Bwindi Community hospital. Among other topics, the training shall cover Cystoscopy, a procedure that allows a surgeon to insert cameras in men’s urinary systems to see whether there are any blockages or if their prostates are enlarged.