By New Pathway -Apr 18, 2019 – Victor Hetmanczuk
Canada Ukraine Foundation’s medical missions, which were held in 2015-2016 at the Central Military Hospital Clinic in Kyiv (CMHCK), provided consultations and surgical reconstructions to patients with complex traumatic defects. The missions also aimed to deliver technology, equipment, surgical tools and supplies to create a centre of excellence at the CMHCK. The specific resource deficiencies that restrict delivery of primary trauma care and sophisticated trauma reconstruction in Ukraine were previously identified during two prior CUF-sponsored missions to the CMHCK and a country-wide needs assessment mission performed in April, 2014. This project’s objective was to provide the technology, surgical equipment and supplies, and the device training that ensure maintenance of global standards of care, during the course of surgical missions and in the future.
List of purchased equipment:
- Complete sets of surgery instruments: (purchased in Canada)
- Complete power system for bone cutting and shaping (purchased in Canada)
- Complete Stryker bone fixation system with sufficient hardware and implants to perform surgery for 2 years (purchased in Canada)
- 1 tourniquet to allow bloodless extremity surgery (purchased in Canada)
- 3 reusable cuffs for the tourniquet (purchased in Canada)
- Orbital implants (purchased in Canada)
- Titanium meshes for bone defect reconstruction (purchased in Canada)
- Suction drains (donated in Canada)
- 3 cautery and haemorrhage control systems (purchased in Ukraine)
- 8 bipolar cautery forceps (purchased in Ukraine)
- 2 advanced surgical head-lighting systems (purchased in Ukraine)
- 1 computer system to allow intraoperative visualization of patient CT and other Xray data (purchased in Ukraine)
- 1 pantographic X-ray system (purchased in Ukraine)
- 1 multi-use operating table (purchased in Ukraine)
- 1 portable autoclave for sterilization (purchased in United States)
The capital equipment purchase made possible by GPSF generated a tremendous impetus for industry, institutional and volunteer donations of medical devices and disposables. Hospitals and medical supply companies contributed in-kind donations towards both missions (this includes but is not limited to Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Trillium Heath Care providers and St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto). Disposables (sutures, staples, gloves, gowns, drapes, medication, etc worth tens of thousands of dollars) were essential for surgery, and were sent to Ukraine in advance of each of the missions.
Some of the larger donations included:
- Stryker Canada provided us with a grant for equipment and implants for the first medical mission valued at $152, 544 (as mentioned previously).
- Calavera Surgical Design donated $37,500 worth of custom, molds, forming tools, and custom implants for skull defect reconstruction.
- For each mission, Health Partners International Canada provided us with medications to support our mission that valued over $20,000 each.
- $9,000 McGvath Video Laryngoscope
It is important to note that in addition to the purchase and delivery of the latest surgical technology, specific training in the direct application of this technology was provided during the course of both missions.
For example:
- Prior to this mission, CT scan images essential for surgery had to be anticipated and printed on photgraphic transparency sheets as hardcopy to be brought to the Operating Room on the day of Surgery. The Canadian mission installed a computer system with the necessary software in the operating room to allow sophisticated CT data visualization intraoperatively.
- Bone fixation systems were grossly deficient and most complications in fracture healing occurred as a direct consequence of inadequate fracture stabilization. The GPSF allowed delivery and implementation of state-of-the-art bone fixation systems which dramatically altered craniofacial fracture repair outcomes.
- Calavera Surgical Design system was specifically designed to facilitate rapid, efficient, durable and anatomically accurate reconstruction of skull defects resulting from gunshot and shrapnel wounds. This provided a very practical and readily adaptable solution for the neurosurgical services.
