Muslim custom unfortunate liability with the use of motorcycles.

Having been here ten years in a referral hospital, many interesting cases come to us. Sadly, several are in the late stages of their diseases and only palliation can be provided. The patients are poor and they first try to obtain a cure from a local healer. Only when in their final stages do they come to the hospital.

 A malnourished child was brought in with his left cheek and jaw necrotic. After being fed he looked and acted stronger. However, he needs the dead cheek and jaw to be removed and his rehabilitation will be far from perfect.

The traditional Muslim custom of the woman wearing a long scarf can become an unfortunate liability with the use of motorcycles. We are seeing accidents in which the scarf gets caught in the wheel and results in strangulation. Such a case presented recently in a woman with a total transection of her trachea from her larynx. Only an emergency tracheostomy saved her life. Her trachea was sewn back to her larynx and now she has a fair air passage. However, both vocal cords are not moving and her nerves may have also been transected with her injury. We are hoping at least one vocal cord will recover.

Because there is minimal dental care, we continue to see many cases of deep neck abscesses from infected teeth.

The custom of drying out groundnuts and corn (maize) on the compound floor allows crawling infants to swallow such items and these young children present choking with food stuck in their trachea.

 We have used our donated facial reconstruction plates on several patients with multiple rib fractures and they did well.

Malnourished child with necrosis of left cheek and jaw.

New form of Transportation

Tamale Teaching Hospital Doctors traveling for Awards

Poor, recovered child whose care was paid for by her doctors