The Reconstructive Surgery
surgeons at the RSP perform very specific operations to war wounds inflicted by bomb blasts, shrapnel, bullet wounds and burns from conflict. The RSP's surgical team consists of four orthopedic surgeons, one maxillofacial surgeon, and one plastic surgeon –– all from Iraq and Jordan –– who have, over the past 10 years performed more than 12,000 surgeries on over 5000 patients. On average five to six operations are performed every day at the RSP. As a result of the regularity with which they treat such injuries, they have developed unique experience and skills. In tandem with physiotherapy, the reconstructive surgery aims to restore functionality and mobility to patients who have had their bodies and lives altered by weapons of war.
The RSP's surgical team consists of four orthopedic surgeons, one maxillofacial surgeon, and one plastic surgeon –– all from Iraq and Jordan –– who have, over the past 10 years performed more than 11,000 surgeries on over 4,500 patients. On average five to six operations are performed every day at the RSP.
PERCENTAGE OF CASES SINCE 2006
ORTHOPAEDIC
Often the result of bomb explosions or bullet wounds, patients come to the hospital with injuries that reduce or completely prevent them from using their limbs.
In response to these injuries, surgeons perform a number of complex operations to manage bone defects. Hand surgeries and soft-tissue surgeries, such as nerve and tendon surgeries, are also performed. In addition, injuries with bone infections, typically osteomalitis, are treated at the hospital, through a very strict and regimented antibiotic stewardship programme.
All these reconstructive procedures aim to give back functionality to patients with injured limbs.
PLASTIC AND BURN SURGERY
Many patients in the RSP, particularly women and children, are victims of serious burns, often caused by bombings and explosions, or other violent incidents. Typical cases involve severe skin contractures that impair joint functionality, impede vision, and compromise a patient's ability to eat and speak. In order to improve the functionality of the affected areas, the plastic surgeon at the RSP performs operations to release contractures followed by soft tissue coverings with skin grafts and skin flaps.
MAXILLOFACIAL
Patients who arrive at the RSP with maxillofacial injuries – injuries to the neck, face and jaw – are often victims of shelling, explosions and gun shots, particularly from the conflicts in Syria and Iraq. Their wounds generally include fractures and bone defects, as well as skin and soft tissue defects that affect breathing, eating, or speaking. The maxillofacial surgeon at the RSP performs complex surgeries in the affected areas, often refiguring the jaw and mouth with metal plates and skin grafts, which restore the patients’ ability to eat, drink and speak again.
“Many patients who come to the RSP with maxillofacial injuries come with severe injuries to the face, sometimes even missing their whole lower jaw, bottom lip, and teeth. As a result their speech, eating and sometimes even breathing is compromised. In response we perform special reconstructive surgery to rebuild the lower jaw, mouth and teeth. It’s an incredible sight, to see people talking, eating and laughing again, after having lost so much.”
Surgical Coordinator.