• Carmine Del Rossi, Simona Fontechiari, Emilio Casolari, Valentina Fainardi, Francesca Caravaggi, and Laura Lombardi.
• Department of Paediatric Surgery, University Hospital of Parma, Parma, Italy. delrossi52@hotmail.com
• Acta Biomed. 2008 Dec 1; 79 (3): 260-3.

Background And Aim Of The WorkWe report 17 years of experience in a missionary hospital with decreased facilities in Bangladesh. Our interest was directed at children with congenital malformations since they live in a society where the exclusion of abnormal children is common. A better treatment for these children offers them a better future.Materials And MethodsBangladesh is among the most densely populated countries in the world: its population ranges from 142 to 159 million, and it is one of the poorest nations in the world. From 1991 to 2008 our Italian pediatric surgical team performed 17 5 weeks missions in a missionary hospital in Khulna, Bangladesh, during the months of January and February.ResultsA total of 1556 patients underwent surgery, mostly for severe congenital anomalies. The infection rates were very low: 2-3%; the mortality rate was 0.4% for all the operations.ConclusionsGood pre-operative preparation and assistance, assurance of cyclical follow-up and a trained surgical team allowed the successful treatment of complex malformations in a missionary hospital with modest services.

16 keywords...

hide…