Aligarh, India. November 2018

Report on Hernia International Mission

to Aligarh, India 2018

 This was the first Hernia International mission to Aligarh, India. We were hosted by local Rotarians. We operated at the RUSA Medical Center in Aligarh. The Rotarian physician owners of the hospital were very generous in their support of the mission.

 The team consisted of the following:

Peter Bystricky, surgeon (Czech Republic), Stepan Matoska, surgeon (Czech Republic), Paulina Mysliwy, anesthesiologist (Poland), Denis Blazquez, surgeon, Teresa Ota, anesthesiologist (United States), Peter Novak, surgeon (United States), Scott Leckman, surgeon (United States)- Team Leader

 Conditions were good. We were given an entire floor at the hospital. There was a pre-op ward, three operating theaters and a post-op ward. Patients were kept overnight with a few exceptions who stayed longer. There was one electrocautery unit for the three operating rooms. Anesthesia for children was ketamine. Local and spinal anesthetics was used for adults.

In the five and one-half days, we operated on 80 adults and 14 children. There were 86 inguinal hernia repairs, 1 recurrent hernia repair, 8 umbilical hernia repairs, 4 incisional hernia repairs, 2 recurrent incisional hernia repairs, one hydrocelectomy, one epigastric hernia repair, one femoral hernia repair and one evacuation of post-op hematoma (complication). So, a total of 105 procedures in 94 patients. At one month, there was one known complication, a wound hematoma, which was treated with evacuation.

 In the evenings, after operating, we were hosted for dinner by local Rotary Clubs at which we were able to socialize with people of Aligarh.

We would like to thank Rotarian Rahul Wadhwa for spearheading the effort. We greatly appreciate the Rotary Clubs of Aligarh City, Royal, Pride, Smart City, Diva, and Rudra for their support in making this a successful endeavor.