No fewer than 250 hip and knee replacement surgeries were performed by medical doctors at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Enugu between 1999 to date, the Medical Director, Dr. Cajetan Nwadinigwe, has disclosed.
Nwadinigwe made the disclosure on Monday in Enugu when the management of the hospital paid a courtesy call on Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.
He said the hip and knee replacement surgeries had gone a long way to reduce the rate of overseas medical tourism by Nigerians.
The medical director said the hospital, established by the defunct Eastern Region Government, had catchment area spanning over 14 states of Nigeria and other countries in West Africa.
He said the hospital in partnership with one of its partners, an agency in the United States, also offered free cleft surgeries to cleft and palate patients.
Nwadinigwe said no fewer than 500 cleft and palate cases had been corrected since the initiative started.
He said: “In 1999, our doctors commenced total hip and total knee replacement surgeries and over 250 patients had been successfully operated.
“The institutionalisation of this specialised surgery has reduced the spate of medical tourism overseas with the attendant capital flow.
“Other specialised surgeries routinely done by our medical experts include limb lengthening procedures, abdominoplasty, mammoplasty and others.”
Nwadinigwe said the hospital had in pursuance to the Federal Ministry of Health Rural Outreach Policy extended its services to the rural areas in the state.
He said in the arrangement, specialist doctors visited rural health facilities in the state to offer services.
“It is hoped that the state government and respective local government areas will provide the enabling environment for the sustenance of the programme,” he said.
Nwadinigwe noted that the ban placed on commercial motorcycle operation in Enugu had drastically reduced incidences of accidents with attendant complex injuries.
Responding, Ugwuanyi, who was represented by his Deputy, Cecelia Ezeilo, said the hospital had made its mark as one of the most important hospitals in Nigeria and beyond.
The governor said the successes recorded by the hospital complement his administration’s drive in making the state a choice destination for medical treatment in Nigeria.
He said: “In pursuance to this vision, we have among other things commenced the construction of three specialist hospitals to be located in the three senatorial zones of the state.
“We are also ensuring the continuous upgrade and strengthening of existing health facilities and institutions in the state,” he said.
Ugwuanyi appealed to the management of the hospital to strive to make services accessible to all classes of people in the society to ameliorate their health challenges.
NAN.
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