Burkina Faso: despite a coup d’état, a major step towards autonomy for teams at Tengandogo University Hospital

From September 25 to October 5, 2022, La Chaîne de l'Espoir was at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU) de Tengandogo, in Ouagadougou, for the 2nd heart surgery mission of the year. Unfortunately, the mission, led by Dr Paul Neville, was disrupted by a coup d'état, and not all the children were able to be operated on...

Operations for children with heart disease and training of local teams

Mariela, open-heart surgery in Madagascar

As part of our program to support the development of pediatric cardiac surgery in Burkina Faso, Dr Paul Neville, cardiac surgeon at theClocheville Hospital in Tours, and a team of 8 volunteer caregivers from various French hospitals, were at the Tengandogo University Hospital at the end of September 2022.

The aim of La Chaîne de l’Espoir’s latest mission to the “Land of Honest Men” is to support cardio-vascular surgeon Dr Adama Sawadogo and his team at the Tengandogo University Hospital in the care of Burkinabe children suffering from congenital heart disease.

This support mission – the 4th since the one in January 2021, which saw the 1st open-heart operation in Burkina Faso’s medical history – was scheduled to operate on 12 children with heart problems. However, the operation program initially planned by the French and Burkinabe teams was disrupted by a coup d’état early in the morning of September 30…

Under curfew, medical team saves child in life-threatening emergency

Following the putsch, strict security instructions were issued to La Chaîne de l’Espoir carers: stay in the hotel and do not leave. Other restrictive consequences of the coup were the closure of borders and the introduction of a curfew from 9pm to 5am. Under these conditions, it was impossible to operate on 12 children in 10 days. In the end, 8 children were operated on during this humanitarian mission in Burkina Faso.

While La Chaîne de l’Espoir’s team of caregivers, confined to their hotel, followed the patients’ progress with the CHU de Tengandogo team via WhatsApp, the news was not good for one of the young patients who had undergone surgery. At around 3 a.m., it became apparent that his heart was compressed by a hematoma. Dr Paul Neville told journalists from France 3 Centre-Val de Loire who took part in the mission: “The patient is a 4-year-old boy. He weighs 11 kilos and is bleeding into his pericardium. It’s at heart level. The roots of the large blood vessels. It’s unforgiving. A patient’s life is at stake.

Echoing the coordination that took place with the head office teams and the safety officer, he adds: “We had to treat this child urgently. We organized ourselves to leave in the middle of the night. We ensured maximum safety. Five people boarded the ambulance, along with local surgeon Adama Sawadogo, who came to meet us.” Fortunately, the journey went smoothly through the deserted streets of Ouagadougou.

Dr Paul Neville continues: “When we got to the OR, everything was ready. We knew what we had to do and how we had to do it. We had already exchanged WhatsApp messages. We reopened the chest. We removed the blood. We cleaned. We closed. Then we readjusted the drugs (ed. note: anesthetic products) and the heart rate.” This emergency operation, carried out in less than 2 hours, saved the little boy’s life.

The cardiac surgeon at Clocheville Hospital in Tours concludes: “It’s our profession that does this and wants this. Surgery is a finished act. So, like all craftsmen, we get the return of a job well done, a job well done. And this feedback is part of our DNA. Valérie Cazier, an operating theatre nurse (IBODE), adds: “It’s true, we had broken curfew. But a child’s life depended on it. I feel much better now for the child and his family. Yes, I do. Much better.

1st autonomous open-heart operation at Tengandogo University Hospital

The assessment carried out by Dr Paul Neville and his team during this cardiac surgery mission showed that Dr Adama Sawadogo and the team at Tengandogo University Hospital were capable of carrying out their 1st open-heart operation in total autonomy. A heavy responsibility for Dr Paul Neville, and an even greater one for Dr Adama Sawadogo.

The operation took place on October 11, 2022 and went “without a hitch”, allowing 5-year-old Cédric to be completely cured of the serious heart defect that threatened his life.

This new stage in theautonomy of the medical and paramedical teams at Tengandogo University Hospital in the treatment of cardiac pathologies validates the strategy of La Chaîne de l’Espoir, which has been supporting Tengandogo University Hospital for almost 2 years in the development of pediatric cardiac surgery.

In fact, this support has two essential components:

The supply of equipment and consumables adapted to this type of advanced surgery,
A program to train and enhance the skills of Burkina Faso’s medical and paramedical teams.

Burkina Faso