GPHC conducts lifesaving abdominal aortic aneurysm surgery

The Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) has conducted a groundbreaking abdominal aortic aneurysm surgery – the first of its kind to be done by the surgical team. Previously, the services were only accessible overseas.
The procedure, which lasted over three hours, was spearheaded by Dr Carlos Martin on an 80-year-old female. It was done on August 27 and the patient has been recovering well.
On Tuesday, Chief Executive Officer, George Lewis expressed that their staffers have been part of ongoing training through international collaboration, to advance the delivery of services to the Guyanese populace.
“Prior to the availability of this service, patients presenting this vascular condition would either have to seek treatment out of Guyana or unfortunately if time did not permit, they might have died. The management of the Georgetown Public Hospital attributes this success to continued commitment to training and dedication of our staff,” the CEO positioned.
Dr Martin would have received additional training in Canada, and returned in July. One month later, he would successfully conduct the surgery via an endovascular operation.

He shed some light on the procedure, noting that it was a very smooth one. This was credited to the patient, nursing staff and senior officials at the hospital.
“The patient volunteered to have this first big surgery done in Guyana. I really must thank her for the trust that she had in the organisation. I think the key thing to this success was teamwork…She (the patient) was so forthcoming and willing throughout the process,” the surgeon shared.
An aneurysm is a dilatation of an artery. In this case, the aorta measures approximately two centimetres in diameter but when it enlarges to more than three centimetres, it is considered an aneurysm. In many cases, patients suffering from the condition would usually detect it from an incidental finding.
This was the circumstance surrounding the now treated patient, who stumbled upon it after initially complaining of abdominal pain. The 6.5-centimetre aneurism was then discovered.
“That was the case with our patient. She had a little bit of abdominal pain. We did a CT scan and there it was, the aneurysm. The key to the management of an aneurysm is actually proactive care because if these aneurysms rupture, essentially there is a 90 to 95 per cent chance of mortality,” Dr Martin cautioned.
The graft used in the surgery was acquired from a private source and can be made available for future operations. By inserting the graft, the aneurysm is excluded from the patient’s circulatory path. The surgeon informed that through the endovascular method, patients can be discharged the same day.
“At this point, we hope to do this in the future. We’re able to this surgery endovascularly. The good thing about endovascular is there is no incision on the abdomen. This patient actually did very well and went home postoperative day four. By the endovascular method, these patients can actually go home the same day…Why is it important that we’re celebrating this achievement is that these patients are doomed to death. This is a massive leap in the services offered by GPHC, not only on a surgical point of view but all the logistics that go along with undertaking a big procedure like this is available at GPHC, both from human resource and the equipment that is needed,” he related. (G12)