Chinese medical team excel in Sierra Leone

Chinese medical team conduct a major surgery at the China-Sierra Leone Friendship Hospital.

Since 1973, Sierra Leone has enjoyed quality and affordable services thanks to various Chinese medical teams sent to the West African nation.

On Friday 26 July 2019, experts from one such Chinese medical team performed a giant abdominal myomectomy for a Sierra Leonean woman in the China-Sierra Leone Friendship Hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital.

Latwata Jalloh is a housewife and mother of two. She had been experiencing prolonged periods for quite some time. Due to prolonged bleeding, Jalloh felt dizzy and weak, which affected her daily life.

"I was in constant pain for quite a long time, and it has affected my daily life over the years," she said.

After years of agony, she finally went to the hospital to see a doctor. After gynecologist Wang Shizhang examined her, Latwata Jalloh was diagnosed with a giant myoma in her uterus, which would require surgery.

A doctor on the team revealed that the patient's existing medical conditions - being overweight and suffering from diabetes - made it much more challenging to accomplish the surgery.

"Diabetes may lead to severe blood loss during surgery and postoperative infection. Breathing management is also harder under anesthetic when dealing with overweight patients. Each of these risk factors could be fatal to the patient," a member of the Chinese medical team explained. To help the surgery go as smoothly as possible, the medical team decided to do a multidisciplinary consultation (MDT), which included members of the medical team and specialist physicians.

"We conducted a successful giant abdominal myomectomy under general anesthetic. The China medical team cooperated with local staff of the China-Sierra Leone Friendship Hospital to carry out a successful surgery," a team member said.

Latwata Jalloh is now recovering well, and her condition has already greatly improved. "I want to thank the Chinese medical team for this major operation, and I pray that the existing relationship between China and Sierra Leone continues to flourish," she said.