Anaesthesia, surgery, obstetrics, and emergency care in Guyana

H.J. Vansell; J.J. Schlesinger; A. Harvey; J.P. Rohde; S. Persaud; K.A. McQueen

doi:10.1016/j.jegh.2014.08.003

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Volume 5, Issue 1, March 2015, Pages 75 - 83

Anaesthesia, surgery, obstetrics, and emergency care in Guyana

Authors

H.J. Vansell^a^,hjvansell@gmail.com, J.J. Schlesinger^b^{, *}^,joseph.j.schlesinger@vanderbilt.edu, A. Harvey^c^,abhsun@awngy.com, J.P. Rohde^d^,john.p.rohde@vanderbilt.edu, S. Persaud^e^,cmoguyana@gmail.com, K.A. McQueen^f^,kelly.mcqueen@vanderbilt.edu

^aThe Global Surgical Consortium, Nashville, TN, USA

^bDepartment of Anaesthesiology, Division of Critical Care Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA

^cDepartment of Anaesthesiology, Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, Georgetown, Guyana

^dDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA

^eChief Medical Officer, Lot 8 Brickdam Stabroek, P.O. Box 10969, Georgetown, Guyana

^fDepartment of Anaesthesiology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA

^*Corresponding author at: 1211 21st Avenue South, Medical Arts Building #526, Nashville, TN 37212, USA. Tel.: +1 615 835 2391.

Corresponding Author

J.J. Schlesingerjoseph.j.schlesinger@vanderbilt.edu

Received 8 July 2014, Revised 25 August 2014, Accepted 26 August 2014, Available Online 7 October 2014.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jegh.2014.08.003 How to use a DOI?
Keywords: Anaesthesia; Surgery; Obstetrics; Emergency medicine; Global health; Guyana
Abstract: The surgical and anaesthesia needs of low-income countries are mostly unknown due to the lack of data on surgical infrastructure and human resources. The goal of this study is to assess the surgical and anaesthesia capacity in Guyana.

A survey tool adapted from the WHO Tool for Situational Analysis to Assess Emergency and Essential Surgical Care was used to survey nine regional and district hospitals within the Ministry of Health system in Guyana.

In nine hospitals across Guyana, there were an average of 0.7 obstetricians/gynaecologists, 3.5 non-OB surgeons, and 1 anaesthesiologist per hospital. District and regional hospitals performed an annual total of 1520 and 10,340 surgical cases, respectively. All but 2 district hospitals reported the ability to perform surgery. An average hospital has two operating rooms; 6 out of 9 hospitals reported routine medication shortages, and 4 out of 9 hospitals reported routine water or electricity shortages. Amongst the three regional hospitals, 16.1% of pregnancies resulted in Caesarean section.

Surgical capacity varies by hospital type, with district hospitals having the least surgical capacity and surgical volume. District level hospitals routinely do not perform surgery due to lack of basic infrastructure and human resources.
Open Access: This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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Journal: Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health
Volume-Issue: 5 - 1
Pages: 75 - 83
Publication Date: 2014/10/07
ISSN (Online): 2210-6014
ISSN (Print): 2210-6006
DOI: 10.1016/j.jegh.2014.08.003 How to use a DOI?
Open Access: This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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ris enw bib

TY  - JOUR
AU  - H.J. Vansell
AU  - J.J. Schlesinger
AU  - A. Harvey
AU  - J.P. Rohde
AU  - S. Persaud
AU  - K.A. McQueen
PY  - 2014
DA  - 2014/10/07
TI  - Anaesthesia, surgery, obstetrics, and emergency care in Guyana
JO  - Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health
SP  - 75
EP  - 83
VL  - 5
IS  - 1
SN  - 2210-6014
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jegh.2014.08.003
DO  - 10.1016/j.jegh.2014.08.003
ID  - Vansell2014
ER  -

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