, who joined the cardiac surgical team that successfully carried out open-heart surgeries on eight babies in the cardiac operating theatre of the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex, Ile-Ife, Osun State, writes about the medical procedures
The theatre has surgical tools, an operating table, laboratory, lamps, ECG machine, digital blood pressure monitor, drug store, disposal room, heart-lung bypass machine and anaesthetic machine. “As the baby becomes calm and cooperative, the cardiologist used the echocardiogram to check again what we saw and confirm that everything was okay, maybe we didn’t initial see well because the child was not cooperating or was moving. This is because for cardiac surgery, one must know where one is going as one cannot afford to change plans on the way. One must be absolutely sure of what one is going to do.
Speaking on how the heart was opened, Onakpoya said, “We opened the skin, the sternum or breastbone with a sternal saw. After that, we opened the breastbone and have before us natural covering of the heart called the pericardium. That natural covering was what we used to close the hole in the heart; we didn’t take any artificial materials to close the holes. We took part of the pericardium and processed it so that it would be easy for us to handle.
He stated, “When the heart became quiet, we opened it and that is why it is called open-heart surgery. Baby A had two holes and one of the valves on the left side of the heart had a problem. It had a cleft on the mitral valve. We had to repair the cleft and close the two holes with the natural covering of the heart. As Baby A was on the bypass machine, we cooled her down. The patient was cooled down to about 31 degrees centigrade.
He said, “Most times, the patients stay with us for between 24 and 48 hours depending on the extent of the surgeries they undergo in the theatre. The immediate post-operative period, which we are involved in, is called cardiac critical care. Sometimes, if they aren’t exuviated on the table, we place them on mechanical ventilator to offer respiratory support. If they are leaving the operating table and the heart is not pumping adequately enough, we offer inotropic support .
One of the fathers of the babies and father to Baby A, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they discovered the child’s condition when the child was four months old, adding that the baby usually exhibited stress, restlessness, cries and breathlessness.
Splendid and commendable. But when can we start to do this without foreign partners?
Yeah Osun state Ile Ife
Sure! OAU Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife, Osun State.
Osun
The cost will wow you I guess.
Please is this in Nig, which state ?
Is this in Nigeria? Amazing.... I'm guessing it's less than a year old....
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