TY - JOUR
T1 - Taking Free Flap Surgery Abroad
T2 - A Collaborative Approach to a Complex Surgical Problem
AU - Swendseid, Brian
AU - Tassone, Patrick
AU - Gilles, Patrick Jean
AU - Pavrette, Magda
AU - Stewart, Matthew
AU - Babatope, Mercy
AU - Weed, Donald
AU - Cognetti, David
AU - Luginbuhl, Adam
AU - Curry, Joseph
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery Foundation 2018.
PY - 2019/3/1
Y1 - 2019/3/1
N2 - Accessibility to health care, especially complex surgical care, represents one of the major health care disparities in developing countries. While surgical teams may be willing to travel to these areas to help address these needs, there are many logistical and ethical dilemmas inherent in this pursuit. We reviewed our approach to the establishment of the team-based surgical outreach program, wherein we perform head and neck free tissue transfer surgery in Haiti. We describe the challenges encountered in the delivery of surgical care as well as ethical dilemmas relevant to surgical outreach trips, highlighting an approach reliant on strong local cooperation. Despite the obstacles in place, our experience shows that free flap surgery can be successfully and ethically performed in these areas of great need.
AB - Accessibility to health care, especially complex surgical care, represents one of the major health care disparities in developing countries. While surgical teams may be willing to travel to these areas to help address these needs, there are many logistical and ethical dilemmas inherent in this pursuit. We reviewed our approach to the establishment of the team-based surgical outreach program, wherein we perform head and neck free tissue transfer surgery in Haiti. We describe the challenges encountered in the delivery of surgical care as well as ethical dilemmas relevant to surgical outreach trips, highlighting an approach reliant on strong local cooperation. Despite the obstacles in place, our experience shows that free flap surgery can be successfully and ethically performed in these areas of great need.
KW - Haiti
KW - free tissue transfer
KW - surgical mission trip
KW - surgical outreach
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85061213948&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85061213948&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0194599818818459
DO - 10.1177/0194599818818459
M3 - Comment/debate
C2 - 30526295
AN - SCOPUS:85061213948
VL - 160
SP - 426
EP - 428
JO - Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery (United States)
JF - Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery (United States)
SN - 0194-5998
IS - 3
ER -