Guyana: 9 children underwent life changing cleft surgery successfully

Georgetown, Guyana: The Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation's (GPHC) plastic surgery and maxillofacial teams successfully and independently undertook nine cleft repair surgeries on children over the weekend. These surgeries will help the special little ones in the community to live an improved and better life ahead. Reportedly, six cleft lip repairs and three cleft palate repairs have been done at the Hospital for the special babies from the local Georgetown community. This was the second round of independent cleft surgeries in Guyana.

This initiative was undertaken through a collaboration with the Smile Train team in Guyana. Smile Train is an international charity dedicated to providing Comprehensive Cleft Care.

As per GPHC, the Hospital's surgical team has received expert guidance from Smile Train over the past few years. This has benefitted the newer staff members to become educators and conduct life-altering surgeries.

The GPHC is Guyana's largest teaching health centre, working to deal with the locals and regionals at the national level. The Hospital has well-skilled and highly professional staff members to treat the individuals.

The Hospital has three pillars, Dr Rajkumar, Dr Aguila and Dr Arturo, who have been trained exceptionally well in cleft lip, cleft palate, and anaesthetic care.

According to the Hospital, As of 2023, GPHC's surgical and anaesthetic capabilities for cleft patients are now fully conducted in-house.

It has embraced the teach-a-man-to-fish model, and the initial three trainees have become educators, training new staff under their supervision.

This model's success demonstrates the sustainability and capacity-building approach employed by Smile Train and GPHC.

Notably, the Hospital has also ensured that they continue to be committed to transforming the lives of children with cleft conditions, ensuring they receive complete care and support for a brighter and healthier future ahead.

To date, GPHC – Smile Train has completed surgical corrections for 71 patients, including 41 primary unilateral cleft lip repairs, eight primary bilateral lip repairs, 39 cleft palate repairs, six oronasal fistula repairs, and one alveolar bone grafting.

The Hospital has also expanded its services to include Nutrition and Speech therapy components. Nutritionists work closely with patients to achieve feeding goals and improve overall health. This allows parents and caregivers of children with clefts to learn specialized feeding techniques to navigate their unique anatomy.