Joseph A Boachie, MD
Nominated From: University of Michigan
Research Site: Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital
Research Area: Trauma, Emergency General Surgery and Surgical Critical Care outcomes in LMICs
Primary Mentor: Dr. Rockefeller Oteng
Research Project
Assessment of surgical critical care contribution to Ghana’s initial trauma and emergency surgery resource and management.
Trauma remains a leading cause of death globally and the burden remains unevenly distributed and primarily borne by low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Efforts to reduce this disparity have centered on identifying and reducing preventable death largely due to inadequate care in the immediate and early resuscitative phases (first 24 hours) of injury in LMICs. 50% of trauma-related death that occurred at one teaching hospital in Ghana during the period 2011 to 2012 and 60% of cases at the same hospital in 2017 were reported to be “definitely and possibly preventable”, with inappropriate care in airway management, inefficient hemorrhage control and delays to damage control or definitive operative care cited as the main causes of high trauma-related mortality. This proposal seeks to assess the time distribution of trauma-related death at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and examine the current critical care contribution to the initial resuscitative phase of trauma and emergency general surgery to identify ways to further strengthen the system.
Research Significance
The classical trimodal distribution of trauma-related death is reduced to a bimodal distribution with majority of the mortalities confined to the immediate and early hours of post injury, with near elimination of the historic late peak injury-related deaths across most high income countries (HICs). This is primarily due to our understanding of the importance of the “golden hour” of resuscitation, the establishment of trauma systems, advancement in resuscitation strategies, damage control and critical care interventions. These important concepts of trauma and surgical care can be implemented across LMICs to improve trauma and emergency general surgery outcomes.
Publications
Mentors
