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01-06-2015 | Editorial Perspective

The Amsterdam Declaration on Essential Surgical Care

Authors: Matthijs Botman, Rinse J. Meester, Roeland Voorhoeve, Henning Mothes, Jaymie A. Henry, Michael H. Cotton, Robert H. S. Lane, Pankaj G. Jani, Hugo A. Heij, Edna Adan Ismail

Published in: World Journal of Surgery | Issue 6/2015

Excerpt

On behalf of the supporting organisations and all participants of the international symposium ‘Surgery in Low Resource Settings’, November 2014, in Amsterdam, we present the ‘Amsterdam Declaration on Essential Surgical Care’. …

Definition:

We define essential surgical care as ‘Basic surgical procedures that save lives and prevent permanent disability or life-threatening complications. Such surgery should be of appropriate quality and safety, accessible at all times and affordable to the community’

Proposed list of 15 essential surgical conditions

Conditions	Interventions
Obstructed labour	Caesarean section. Symphysiotomy, assisted or manipulative delivery
Severe uterine bleeding	Evacuation of retained products of the Placenta, B-lynch suture, repair of uterine perforation
Surgical infections	Incision and drainage of abscess, fasciotomy, dental extraction, tympanotomy, bone drilling, arthrotomy
Severe wounds (including burns)	Debridement, hemostasis, suturing, escharotomy, skin grafting
Severe head injury	Management of head injury, cranial burr holes, elevation of depressed skull fracture
Airway obstruction	Management of compromised airway, tracheostomy, cricothyroidotomy, removal of foreign body
Chest injury and infections	Intercostal drainage, thoracostomy
Acute Abdomen	Emergency laparotomy including appendicectomy
Fractures and Dislocations	Reduction of fractures and dislocations, casting and splinting, external fixation
Severe limb ischemia, sepsis and injury	Amputations
Urinary outflow obstruction	Suprapubic catheterization
Hernia	Hernia repair
Cataract	Cataract extraction and Intra-ocular lens insertion
Clubfoot	Casting and splinting, tenotomy
Simple cleft lip	Cleft lip repair

This Declaration was initiated during the final session of the symposium ‘Surgery in Low Resource Settings’ on November 15th, 2014 in Amsterdam with the following organisations represented: AMREF flying doctors, the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland, the College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA), CAPACARE, Doctors Without Borders (MSF—Holland), Edna Adan University Hospital, Emergency, the German Society for Tropical Surgery (DTC), the G4 Alliance, the International Collaboration for Essential Surgery (ICES), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the International Federation for Rural Surgery (IFRS), the International Federation of Surgical Colleges (IFSC), Mercy Ships, the Netherlands Society for International Surgery (NSIS), the Netherlands Society for Plastic Surgery (NVPC), Volonteers OverSeas (VSO) and the World Orthopedic Concern (WOC).

Title: The Amsterdam Declaration on Essential Surgical Care
Authors: Matthijs Botman
Rinse J. Meester
Roeland Voorhoeve
Henning Mothes
Jaymie A. Henry
Michael H. Cotton
Robert H. S. Lane
Pankaj G. Jani
Hugo A. Heij
Edna Adan Ismail
Publication date: 01-06-2015
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Published in: World Journal of Surgery / Issue 6/2015
Print ISSN: 0364-2313
Electronic ISSN: 1432-2323
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00268-015-3057-x

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