Surgeon-performed ultrasound in collaboration with the African Head and Neck Society
Lack of diagnostic imaging is a massive challenge for surgical care in many developing countries and limited-resource settings. Instead, point-of-care ultrasound imaging can be a valuable low-cost tool in the hand of the surgeon.
Some of the faculty members for this course, Prof. Merry Sebelik and Prof. Lisa Orloff, have a long experience working for the AHNS Global Outreach Service and improving surgical care in low-resource areas of the world. I have had the honor to work with them for the last couple of years on a project to distribute head and neck ultrasound skills for members of the African Head and Neck Society (AfHNS) interested in implementing ultrasound in clinical practice. Together with Prof. Johan Fagan, Dr. Mark Zafero and other AfHNS members, we have also published guidelines for managing thyroid nodules in limited-resource settings, see video.
Faculty at the ACS Thyroid, Parathyroid, and Neck Ultrasound Course, Cape Town, South Africa 2018
The Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Righospitalet, has collaborated with otolaryngology-Head and Neck surgeons in Zimbabwe for many years due to an initial work by Professor Christian von Buchwald and Dr Clemence Chidziva. In connection 3rd AfHNS conference 2019 in Harare, Zimbabwe, we donated two Logiq E Ultrasound machines to the hospital and helped teach and start the clinical use together with Prof. Merry Sebelik.
Four ENT surgeons from Zimbabwe have also traveled to Copenhagen and participated in the International Head & Neck Ultrasound Course as delegated. An ongoing project is now working on implementing surgeon-performed ultrasound to improve patient care in Zimbabwe. Further, we have supported the US training of Dr. Anna Konney who afterward implemented surgeon-performed US at Kumasi Hospital in Ghana. In 2024 Dr. Jamilah Nabukenya and Dr Douglas Senyonjo from Uganda received sponsored scholarships to participate in the International Head & Neck Ultrasound Course as delegated and had afterward US training at Righospitalet. As part of the project the had donated two BK Flex Focus machines being integrated in the clinical practice to improve patient care.
H&N Ultrasound Course, Cape Town, South Africa 2018
Ultrasound training at Righospitalet
AfHNS guidelines meeting for thyroid tumours in resource constrained settings, Cape Town, South Africa
H&N Ultrasound Course, Cape Town, South Africa 2018
A possible surplus from the Copenhagen International Head & Neck Ultrasound Course is donated as training grants
for African head and neck surgeons who aim to incorporate ultrasound in limited-resource settings. Please read more about the AfHNS/Copenhagen Head and Neck Ultrasound Training Grant here and at the AfHNS website.
Sincerely
Tobias Todsen, MD, PhD