Doctors trained to treat head trauma

While primary health care and N.H.I. have been the major focus of the Ministry of Health, it doesn’t mean that progress is not being made on more advanced care for Belizean patients. This morning News 5’s Jacqueline Woods was on hand at the K.H.M.H. as doctors demonstrated the latest techniques for dealing with injuries to the brain.

Jacqueline Woods, Reporting

Ten months ago, two-year-old Godwin Gomez Junior became ill. The toddler could not walk and had difficulty eating and seeing. He was taken to the Karl Heusner Memorial hospital where an x-ray examination revealed there was a mass on the child’s brain.

Dorla Myvett, Mother

“It started from December. It didn’t look like anything was inline with his eyes, he just sort of looked over it. He stopped walking and he just pee and stool himself where he sit and he just got worse.”

There was an increase of pressure on Godwin’s brain due to an accumulation of fluid that had collected in the back of the boy’s head. Immediately, a shunt or a special tube, was inserted in the brain to drain the excess fluid and relieve the pressure.

Dorla Myvett

“He started to walk again and finally he started to run. It was quiet amazing to see that Godwin will get better so fast.”

Little Godwin has not yet fully recovered and will need to undergo further tests and treatments that will be conducted in the United States.

Dr. Robert Lacin, Neurosurgeon

“We really do not know what we are dealing with. All we know is what we have seen on the CT Scan, which shows a growth in the pineal region. The pineal gland is a area that’s very deep in the brain and can harbour benign and malignant tumours.

He will be going to the United States in November and have an MRI study of his brain, which is a special x-ray study that will give us a little bit better of a idea of what we are dealing with, what kind of tumour this is. Based on the tests, he may or may not need an operation to take it out.”

Fortunately, in most juvenile cases, the tumours are benign and the young patients do get better. Three years ago, Godwin and other patients would not have been able to receive treatment in the country because it was not available. Today, Godwin is just one of many patients who are now receiving care at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital through a programme of head trauma management.

Dr. Robert Lacin

“You have a lot of head injuries in this country. You get about eight head injuries a week in this hospital only.”

Dr. Robert Lacin is from the Goldsboro Neurological Surgery Unit in the United States. Since 1999, he has been training local surgeons on how to do the shunt procedure. Today he is back in the country to conduct similar sessions

Dr. Robert Lacin

“The purpose of this trip is to train the emergency room physicians and the surgeons, as well as the hospital and staff, in the management of head injuries.”

The Belize Rotary Club organised Dr. Lacin’s visit to the country.

Yvette Burks is a director of Rotary and the National Co-ordinator for the Belize Emergency Response Team.

Yvette Burks, Director, Belize Rotary Club

“I am very, very aware of all the head injuries we transfer here every single week. There are accidents out of this world, and it doesn’t have to be traffic accidents, kids don’t wear helmets on bicycles, people fall off ladders. A major percentage of the people who die from head trauma it is because of not being able to monitor what’s going on in there. So when Lacin was kind enough to offer come down here and do this, we thought it was just an amazing thing. We lose so much of our productive fifteen to forty-four age of people due to major head trauma.”

K.H.M.H. has also received two intracranial pressure monitors. The hospital does not have CT-Scan equipment and the new machines will now help doctors know the extent of any head injury in order to treat a patient properly.

Head trauma patients, depending on the severity of the injury, will still need to go abroad to receive further medical treatment. But the shunt procedure they will now be able to undergo in the country will greatly increase their odds of survival. Reporting for News 5, Jacqueline Woods.

The expenses associated with Doctor Lacin’s visit to Belize have been taken care of by a donation from Belize Electricity Limited.