title: Surgical Care in Liberia and Implications for Capacity Building.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Situational needs of health care facilities inform the optimal allocation of resources and quality improvement efforts. This study examines surgical care delivery metrics at a tertiary care institution in Liberia.
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively reviewed operative and ward logbooks from January 1 to December 31, 2012. Data parameters included patients' age, diagnosis, procedure, mortality, and perioperative provider information.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In 2012, 1,036 operations were performed. The breakdown of adult surgical cases reveals 452 (45.1%) general surgery operations, 192 (18.5%) orthopedic operations, and 180 (17.4%) ophthalmic operations. Other significant case volume included urologic 53 (5.1%), ENT 36 (3.5%), neurosurgical 31 (3.0%), vascular 24 (2.3%), and plastic 14 (1.4%) operations. Pediatric patients accounted for 24.5% (243) of surgical cases, and 9% of pediatric surgical cases were for hydrocephalus. General, spinal, and total intravenous anesthesia was provided by non-physician personnel, except when surgeons provided their own anesthesia. Ward logs documented 7.4% mortality among all patients admitted to the surgical ward, most of which occurred after exploratory laparotomy (44%), in burn (14%) patients, and in patients with head/neck emergencies (12%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This operative log review can be used to identify surgical practice patterns, needs, and deficits in order to inform the growth of surgical capacity at Liberia's only tertiary medical institution. Using this data to identify critical areas of high-yield operations (e.g., for pediatric hydrocephalus), or excessively high mortality rates (e.g., in burn care), can focus the direction of limited resources toward areas of need. While the heavy reliance on non-consultant surgeons reflects human capacity shortages and a pressing need for postgraduate training programs, identifying the breadth of surgical expertise demonstrated in these operative logs reveals the proficiencies required of surgeons to provide comprehensive surgical care in this setting.
authors.affiliation: Program in Global Surgery and Social Change, Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA, tchao@partners.org.
authors.forename: Tiffany E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Chao
authors.forename: Pratik B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kikubaire
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Niescierenko
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hagander
authors.forename: John G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Meara
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000758:Anesthesia / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000776:Anesthesiology / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D057191:Capacity Building; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007988:Liberia; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D040841:Resource Allocation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013043:Specialties, Surgical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013503:Surgery Department, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative / Q000401:mortality / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult