AJTMH Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
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Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 80(3), 2009, pp. 447-451
Copyright © 2009 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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A Pilot Program of Mass Surgery Weeks for Treatment of Hydrocele Due to Lymphatic Filariasis in Central Nigeria

Gail Thomas, Frank O. Richards, Jr*, Abel Eigege, Nuhu K. Dakum, Martin P. Azzuwut, John Sarki, Ibrahim Gontor, Jacob Abimiku, Gladys Ogah, Munirah Y. Jindau, Jonathan Y. Jiya, AND Emmanuel S. Miri
The Carter Center, Atlanta, Georgia; The Carter Center, Nigeria National Office, Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria; Jos University Teaching Hospital, Department of Surgery, Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria; Plateau State Ministry of Health, State Secretariat, Jos, Nigeria; Nasarawa State Ministry of Health, State Secretariat, Lafia, Nigeria; Public Health Department, Federal Ministry of Health, Garki, Abuja, Nigeria

In a pilot program of mass surgery weeks (MSW) to provide hydrocelectomy services to men with filarial scrotal hydrocele, local general practitioners performed 425 surgical repairs in 301 men in five MSW in three rural Nigerian community hospitals between 2002 and 2005. The most common (94%) procedure used was the eversion technique, which was most familiar to the practitioners. Postoperative complications included hematoma (3.7%) and infection (3%), and there was one death from infection in an elderly man with previously unrecognized diabetes. In 115 patients (38%) followed for 1 to 3 years, the hydrocele recurrence rate was 7%. The eversion technique gives an acceptable outcome, and MSW are safe and effective if strict attention is paid to preoperative screening of candidates and asepsis.

Received September 12, 2008. Accepted for publication November 7, 2008.

Acknowledgments: The authors acknowledge the contributions of the underlisted people who participated in the MSW: B. B. Mairiga, A. Jigaba, Ezra Dablet, Kolade Alfred, Samuel K. Audu, J. Faya, John Umaru, and Solomon Adelamo. We thank L. Rakers, L. Hudson-Davis, and R. Ajigbeda for their assistance in preparation of the manuscript.

Financial support: The Carter Center assisted Ministry of Health Program for LF elimination in Plateau and Nasarawa States receives financial support from GlaxoSmithKline and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

* Address correspondence to Frank O. Richards Jr, The Carter Center, 453 Freedom Parkway, Atlanta, GA 30307. E-mail: frich01{at}emory.edu

Authors’ addresses: Gail Thomas, Frank O. Richards Jr, Abel Eigege, and Emmanuel S. Miri, The Carter Center, 453 Freedom Parkway, Atlanta, GA 30307. Nuhu K. Dakum, Division of Urology, Department of Surgery, Jos University Teaching Hospital, Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria. Martin P. Azzuwut, John Sarki, and Ibrahim Gontor, Plateau State Ministry of Health, State Secretariat, Jos, Nigeria. Jacob Abimiku and Gladys Ogah, Nasarawa State Ministry of Health, State Secretariat, Lafia, Nigeria. MunirahY. Jinadu and JonathanY. Jiya, Room 913, Phase II, Federal Secretariat, Lagos, Nigeria.






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