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POOR AFRICA

Posted Jul 01 2009 6:39pm

The financial crisis has struck hard in the so called developed world. Here in Aira it has passed by largely unnoticed. People are used to a life in outmost poverty and are forced to cope with the harsh economic reality, always looking for a way to save money and do things simple and cheap. So are we in the operating theater.

Atraumatic sutures– that is a suture directly attached to a needle without a knob – are the best for the patient as well as the surgeon. Unfortunately they are very expensive - around 2-3 € a piece. Therefore we produce our own atraumatic sutures from nylon thread bought in roles of 3 000 m and injection needles with the plastic ending removed. That saves the hospital more than 10 000 € a year.

The staff is never without work. When not busy in the operating theater they are preparing materials and making atraumatic sutures

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The plastic ending on an injection needle is removed and a piece of nylon threaded through the needle. The nylon thread is fixed to the needle by squeezing the end of the needle firmly around the thread. The joint of a needle holder I excellent for that.

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VIDEO 1  ← click for video

 

The sutures are fixed on a piece of carton and collected in a jar for later sterilization.

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VIDEO 2  ← click for video

 

Maybe something for the hospitals back in the west when facing a tight budget?

 

Tags: appropiate technology, atraumatic suture

This entry was posted on Friday, June 26th, 2009 at 5:46 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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