Anaesthesia and Critical Care Consultants (A3C) and Reddington Hospital, Victoria Island, performed a complex surgery and care usually done in industrialised countries, to restore the hearing of a 4-year old who was born deaf.
Akintunde Sawyerr, commercial director, A3C Consultants, in a statement hinted that A3C is considering setting up a fund to drive more of such cases through its soon-to-be-launched foundation.
According to the statement, A3C contacted Anthony Owa the UK and US-trained Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) surgeon of Nigerian origin, who had previously done cochlear implants and other complex ENT surgical procedures in conjunction with A3C.
Owa performed the surgery at The Reddington Hospital, an apex hospital in Victoria Island with the technical support of the world-renowned cochlear implant company with audiological backup supplied by Barnabas Vangerwua, Francis Dagu, and Med El, with the post-operative auditory rehabilitation being coordinated by Yvonne Kehinde.
The 4-year old child, who was born without hearing, was initially referred to A3C, who in turn organised for the referral to Owa.
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The statement stated that Barnabas Vangerwua, audiologist/CEO Nigerbell Hearing & Speech Centres LTD, distributor of MED-EL GmbH in Nigeria undertook the audiological assessment to determine the candidacy of the patient for cochlear implant surgery.
Nigerbell ensured timely supply of the implants and undertakes rehabilitation for the patients to enhance communication with the spoken word.
The procedure took place at Reddington Hospital, Victoria Island, where a good number of surgical procedures and teaching from the mentor surgeon take place with a high level of success said Emmanuel Matthews the chief operating officer of Reddington stated.
“For these types of cases to take place with more regularity, the funding needs to be available or the cost subsidised, as only in this way can more cases be done and the skill set needed to be transferred effectively to Nigerian clinicians.”
Ken Adegoke, head of Clinical Services at A3C stated that the procedure had to be done before the child was five years old, leaving only a few months from confirmation of the diagnosis to surgery.
Adegoke also said that the child is making good progress MED-EL who is the manufacturer of the cochlear implant, through their Country representative highlighted the fact that the company provides full pre and post-operative support to the patients to ensure that the outcomes have the maximum chance of success and achieve full potential.
A3C, founded by Seyi Oyesola in 2015 has the primary objective of making complex surgery and Care usually done in more developed countries available in Nigeria.
