Health Projects – Orthopedics
In partnership with Milton Cato Memorial Hospital, Dr. Eric Gordon from St. Louis Children’s Hospital and Shriners Hospital returned this year with his committed team of medical professionals. While Dr. Gordon has been travelling to St. Vincent every other April, he added this September team a few years ago to catch up with the backlog of patients needing orthopedic intervention. Dr. Gordon brought with him a team of four medical professionals and an instrumentation representative from OrthoPediatrics.
56 children and their families attended the clinic on Sunday. The team had 133 consults, and 17 procedures were completed during the week. The majority of the children came from St. Vincent and the Grenadines with others coming from Dominica, Grenada, and St. Lucia. Many of the children had received surgery the previous year or this past April and were back for their follow-up visits with the orthopedic team.
The Orthopedic Surgical Team (from left to right)
- Anne Koncki – Director of Volunteers, World Pediatric Project
- Jacob Rowe – Instrumentation Representative OrthoPediatrics
- Dr. Craig Smith – Orthopedic Surgery Fellow, St. Louis Children’s Hospital
- Dr. Robert Moore – Anesthesiologist, St. Louis Children’s/Shriners Hospital
- Melissa Eagan – Orthopedic Nurse, St. Louis Children’s Hospital
- Dr. Eric Gordon – Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon, St. Louis Children’s/Shriners Hospital
- Kim Cordia – Recovery Nurse, St. Louis Children’s Hospital
1 year old Ciel
Medical Condition and Procedure – Ciel has internal tibial torsion or more commonly known as intoeing or “pigeon-toed.” The recommendation was deep foot massage, and Ciel’s condition is gradually improving. She was discharged from this clinic with no further follow-up needed.
Reenique
Reenique approaches all activities in a helpful manner. In school, she does everything from tying kids’ shoes to cleaning up after them. When she graduated from preschool, she won the award for Most Helpful Student. Learning this was no surprise after seeing Reenique spend the morning of her own surgery entertaining other kids. Despite her eyes welling up with tears upon learning it was time to undergo surgery for her Blount’s Disease with Dr. Gordon’s orthopedic team, Reenique displayed great strength after the procedure. Her work-hard attitude came in handy during physical therapy, and she left the hospital with a smile, ready to return to school and continue helping others.
6 year old Akeeran
Medical Condition and Procedure – Akeeron has a club foot which means the foot is twisted out of shape from its normal position. The patient had heel cord lengthening which is a minimally invasive approach to lengthen his Achilles tendon. He will have a follow-up visit with the team within the next six months.
14 year-old Kareem
Medical Condition and Procedure – Fourteen-year-old Kareem came to the clinic for an evaluation of a foot deformity. He had mild pain when walking long distances and standing all day. His problem was worse when he wore sandals. The recommendation was to wear a supportive shoe and inserts as needed. Kareem should come back to the next clinic.
18 year-old Martin
Medical Condition and Procedure – Martin has sickle cell anemia which is an inherited form of anemia – a condition in which there aren’t enough healthy blood cells to carry adequate oxygen throughout your body. He was already a patient on the ward with a sickle cell crisis, and he was having hip pain. The recommendation is hip abduction which is the movement of the leg away from the midline of the body, and to refer Martin to the US next year for possible surgery.
19 year-old Madonna
Medical Condition and Procedure – Madonna had an external fixator placed by the April 2018 orthopedic surgery team to correct her club foot on the right side, and this surgery in September was to remove the fixator after five months of correction. This visit was the necessary follow-up. Physical therapy worked with her to help with mobility after the fixator was removed.
