Medical Initiative
For the Benefit of
The Children of Palestine
Ear Surgery for Palestinian Children
By Dr. Ibrahim K. Ladaa
Message from Nablus, 27th July 2003
I have been in the government hospital,
Rafidia, in Nablus since July 20th, 2003. The hospital has an ear, nose and
throat department with two young colleagues. One of the colleagues did his training
in Amman/Jordan, the other in the Ukraine for three years. Both were able to carry out the
routine operations relatively well, but not tumor or micro surgery, especially of the ear.
This was where my task started.
In the first week I became acquainted with
about 150 patients. Most of the patients were children and young people under 20, who
almost without exception suffered from hearing problems. Many of them also complained
about giddiness (tinnitus) and considerable loss of hearing. So I had to set strict
priorities and first chose patients suffering from a cholesteatoma. There were 23 such
patients. And so I carried out my first operation on July 27th 2003. A German firm loaned
us the micro surgical instruments. This kind of operation was performed for the first time
in Nablus. It was admirable with which zest, good moral and joy the sisters of the
operating theatre were prepared to assist in this new type of operation and to learn how
to manage with unaccustomed instruments. We first did a dummy run so that the first
operation was able to be performed successfully on July 27th 2003. The patient was a
15-year-old boy whose cholesteatoma was already protruding out of the auditory canal. It
was a large tumor which filled the entire mastoid and the middle ear. The operation
lasted nearly three and a half hours.
I
was satisfied with the result and so we carried out two more operations. The two young
colleagues sat behind me during the operation and wanted to see everything. Even the
sisters and the anesthetists were interested in seeing what a cholesteatoma looked like.
It was a pleasure to give motivated and willing people the chance to learn to help others.