Surgeon-performed ultrasound in collaboration with the African Head and Neck Society
Lack of diagnostic imaging is a massive challenge for surgical care in many developing countries and limited-resource settings. Instead, point-of-care ultrasound imaging can be a valuable low-cost tool in the hand of the surgeon.
Some of the faculty members for this course, Prof. Merry Sebelik and Prof. Lisa Orloff, have a long experience working for the AHNS Global Outreach Service and improving surgical care in low-resource areas of the world. I have had the honor to work with them for the last couple of years on a project to distribute head and neck ultrasound skills for members of the African Head and Neck Society (AfHNS) interested in implementing ultrasound in clinical practice. Together with Prof. Johan Fagan, Dr. Mark Zafero and other AfHNS members, we have also published guidelines for managing thyroid nodules in limited-resource settings, see video.
Faculty at the ACS Thyroid, Parathyroid, and Neck Ultrasound Course, Cape Town, South Africa 2018
The Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery & Audiology, Righospitalet, has collaborated with otolaryngology-Head and Neck surgeons in Zimbabwe for many years due to an initial work by Professor Christian von Buchwald and Dr Clemence Chidziva. In connection 3rd AfHNS conference 2019 in Harare, Zimbabwe, we donated two Logiq E Ultrasound machines to the hospital and helped teach and start the clinical use together with Prof. Merry Sebelik.
An ongoing project is now working on implementing surgeon-performed ultrasound to improve patient care in Zimbabwe.
H&N Ultrasound Course, Cape Town, South Africa 2018
AfHNS conference, Harare, Zimbabwe 2019
AfHNS guidelines meeting for thyroid tumours in resource constrained settings, Cape Town, South Africa
H&N Ultrasound Course, Cape Town, South Africa 2018
A possible surplus from the Copenhagen International Head & Neck Ultrasound Course is donated as training grants
for African head and neck surgeons who aim to incorporate ultrasound in limited-resource settings. Please read more about the AfHNS/Copenhagen Head and Neck Ultrasound Training Grant here and at the AfHNS website.
Sincerely
Tobias Todsen, MD, PhD