A national conference on ‘Plastic, Reconstructive and Craniofacial Surgery opens at the Institute of Health Sciences, Wattayah, tomorrow. Organised by the Department of Plastic, Reconstructive & Craniofacial Surgery, Khoula Hospital, the three-day forum also features a pre-conference workshop on ‘Hand Injuries’.
The conference, according to Dr C Thomas (pictured), Head of Plastic Surgery Services in Oman, is aimed at familiarizing the medical fraternity in the Sultanate of Oman with recent advances in the field of plastic, reconstructive and craniofacial surgery. Dr Ali Jaffar Mohammed, Adviser at the Health Ministry’s Directorate-General of Health Afffairs, will formally inaugurate the proceedings at 8 am tomorrow in the auditorium of the Institute of Health Sciences, Wattayah.
Eminent guest faculty participating in the conference include Drs Mark Butterworth and Isam al Basri from the United Kingdom, Suk Wha Kim from South Korea, Mustafa M Zaidi and Mohammed Rida Franka from Libya , Rafic Kuzbari from Austria, Karoon Agarawal and Ashok Koul from India, Mohammed Ali Mansour from Syria, and Paul Kelly from the USA, along with local guest faculty from Khoula Hospital, Sultan Qaboos Hospital (Salalah), Al Nahda Hospital, Sohar Hospital, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital and other regional hospitals.
In light of the growing incidence of hand injuries due to accidents in the Sultanate, a workshop on Hand Injuries will be held in conjunction with the three-day national event. According to Dr Thomas, the Department of Plastic Surgery at Khoula Hospital performs at least 2-3 emergency operations of the hand each day, in addition to a number of elective hand operations.
A fully equipped microsurgery service, which is part and parcel of the hand surgery service at Khoula Hospital, commonly undertakes such complex procedures as replantation and revascularisation of the amputated digits and extremities, free tissue transfer and peripheral nerve surgery. The department also boasts an impressive in-house capability in the surgical management of hand injuries and deformities.
Another notable achievement relates to the management of congenital abnormalities such as cleft lip, cleft palate, craniofacial deformities and other congenital deformities, which are common in children here in the Sultanate. More than 300 patients with congenital anomalies are operated on a yearly basis at Khoula Hospital.
The protocol management of cleft anomalies in the Sultanate has won international praise, with Khoula Hospital recognised as a training centre by philanthropic plastic surgery organisations, such as Operation Smile and the Smile Train, which are dedicated to the care of the deformed children around the world.
Equally laudable is the department’s success in streamlining the management of burns as part of the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Service. A National Burns Registry has been operational at the Burns Unit of Khoula Hospital since 1984.
Accidental burns are increasing especially among the children and women whose management includes both treatment and surgery for the acute stage as well as for the post burn deformities, says Dr Thomas. In addition to the main Burns Unit at Khoula Hospital, purpose-designed burns units have been established in the regional hospitals of Sohar, Nizwa, Sur and Salalah by the guidance of this department.
Yet another service offered by the department is craniofacial surgery to treat injuries of the head and neck region due to road traffic accidents, as well as cancers of the head and neck region by radical excision and its reconstruction.
In addition to the busy clinical practice, there are regular teaching and training programmes for the higher surgical trainee doctors in plastic and reconstructive surgery and allied surgical specialties from the Oman Medical Specialty Board, medical students from the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University and other paramedical staff from the Institute of Health Sciences at the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Khoula Hospital.
Many publications in the reputed medical journals and presentations at the international conferences from this department are a regular feature.
The Department of Plastic, Reconstructive and Craniofacial Surgery is recognized as a Centre for the Higher Surgical Training in Plastic Surgery by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, UK, after official inspection since 1998.
Source : Oman Observer