Year: 2018
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: Aims Since the publication of the Lancet commission in global surgery (2015) the need for more timely, accessible and affordable surgical care in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) has been increasingly recognised. There is a paucity of data to guide healthcare advocacy and resource allocation. This student paediatrics society has collaborated with UK paediatric surgeons to develop a novel research hub (OxPLORE). OxPLORE will investigate three paediatric solid tumours (Wilm’s tumours, Neuroblastomas and Rhabdomyosarcomas) and report their incidence, management and post-operative outcomes in differently resourced settings visited by medical students on elective placements. Methods Students are currently forming links with consultants in their host centres, prior to the first batch of elective placements in November 2017 – February 2018. Host consultants are pairing elective students with local trainees and medical students. Data will be anonymously recorded on a standardised proforma, by elective students and their host collaborators. The primary outcome is survival (at post-operative day 28, date of death, or date last seen alive). Secondary outcomes include: patient demographics; tumour stage; pre-operative management and morbidity (Clavien-Dindo Classification); operative details; post-operative management and follow up. Ethical approval is arranged for each centre at an institutional level. All collaborators will be named authors on resulting publications. Results In November and December, the project supervisors will run the first data collection pilot in Tanzania, and a student participant will gather data in Rwanda. Further OxPLORE collaborations will follow in early 2018. The data from our UK centre has already been gathered (from 2012–2017). These data will be analysed and compared to Tanzanian and Rwandan data to describe the differing experiences of paediatric solid tumours in these centres. Conclusions Information generated from these collaborations will inform individual centres of which tumours represent a greater burden of disease, and act as an advocacy tool to be used to obtain funding for surgical resources. OxPLORE students will develop relationships with link institutions, which will be nurtured for future collaborations driven by local colleagues. Comparative data may help to advise best management of paediatric solid tumours in differently resourced settings globally.
Language: English
Topic: Global Health and Surgery
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
OpenAlex ID: W2792554574