Volunteer Surgical Team in Somalia

Our aims were to evaluate and to report the experiences of the surgical team of Doctors Worldwide (DWW) Turkey during their medical activities in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. In the context of a continuous program carried out between March 2012 and June 2013, 12 squads of the DWW Turkey Surgical Team visited Al-Shifa Hospital and performed surgical interventions in Mogadishu, Somalia. Outcomes obtained as results of all surgical practices, including the demographic data of the patients, the types of anesthesiological procedures, and the types of surgical interventions performed, were recorded and analyzed. Seven hundred eight surgical interventions were performed in 252 (35.6%) female and 456 (64.4%) male patients. Four hundred fifty-five (64.3%) cases were operated under general anesthesia. On the other hand, 164 (23.1%) patients were operated under spinal anesthesia, whereas 89 (12.6%) patients received local anesthesia. The most common first five preoperative diagnoses were inguinal hernia, cleft lip, goiter, cleft palate, and hydrocele. We conclude that, as an efficacious modality of treatment, surgery should be considered as one of the most important priorities when conducting humanitarian aid programs.