Advancing access to care: An assessment of the prehospital system in Senegal.

BACKGROUND: Most low- and middle-income countries do not have a mature prehospital system limiting access to definitive care. This study sought to describe the current state of the prehospital system in Senegal and offer recommendations aimed at improving system capacity and population access to definitive care. METHODS: Structured interviews were conducted with key informants in various regions throughout the country using qualitative and quantitative techniques. A standardized questionnaire was generated using needs assessment forms and system frameworks. Descriptive statistics were performed for quantitative data analysis, and qualitative data was consolidated and presented using ATLAS.ti. RESULTS: Two (20%) of the studied regions, Dakar and Saint-Louis, had a mature prehospital system in place, including dispatch centers and teams of trained personnel utilizing equipped ambulances. 80% of the studied regions lacked an established prehospital system. The vast majority of the population relied on the fire department for transport to a healthcare facility. The ambulances in rural regions were not part of a formal prehospital system, were not equipped with life-support supplies, and were limited to inter-facility transfers. CONCLUSIONS: While Dakar and Saint-Louis have mature prehospital systems, the rest of the country is served by the fire department. There are significant opportunities to further strengthen the prehospital system in rural Senegal by training the fire department in basic life support and first aid, maintaining cost efficiency, and building on existing national resources. This has the potential to significantly improve access to definitive care and outcomes of emergent illness in the Senegalese community.

Efficacy of laparoscopic surgery in the treatment of hepatic abscess: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Liver abscess is a common cause of intra-abdominal infection and its treatment depends on the presentation. Laparoscopy, in addition to its classic benefits, has particular advantages in the management of liver abscess but its role is not well defined and studies done in that field are heterogenous. The objective of this systematic review is to evaluate the efficacy of laparoscopic surgery in the management of liver abscess. METHODS: We realized a systematic review and meta-analysis including studies published in the 20 last years. The primary outcome was the pooled prevalence of recurrent or residual liver abscess after laparoscopic treatment. RESULTS: We retrieved 190 studies regarding laparoscopic surgery in liver abscess and 17 studies were included in the quantitative and qualitative synthesis. A total of 608 patients was included and 299 of them (49.1%) were treated by laparoscopic surgery. The indications were mainly failure of first line treatment (antibiotic treatment and/or percutaneous drainage and/or needle aspiration) and ruptured multiloculated, or caudate lobe liver abscess. The surgical gesture performed was laparoscopic drainage in all studies. The post-operative rate of recurrent or residual liver abscess after treatment by laparoscopy was 4.22% (95% CI: 2.29-7.07). CONCLUSIONS: This systematic review showed that laparoscopic drainage had a considerable place in the management. The post-operative rate of recurrence was low with no mortality suggesting that laparoscopy is safe and feasible for liver abscess management.

[Vulvar squamous cell carcinoma in a HIV-1 infected patient with first-line antiretroviral therapy failure]. / Carcinome épidermoïde de la vulve chez une patiente infectée par le VIH-1 en échec de traitement antirétroviral de première ligne.

Vulvar cancer has been rarely reported in the literature. In young women, it is most often caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), whereas in postmenopausal women, in whom this cancer is more common, it would be caused by estrogen deficiency. Moreover, HIV infection increases the risk of developing vulvar cancer in HIV-positive women as a consequence of the high prevalence of HPV infection in these subjects. Thus, in patients with suspected vulva lesion, biopsy followed by anatomo-pathological examination should be performed in order to establish the diagnosis. We here report a case of vulvar squamous cell carcinoma in a HIV-1-positive patient with first-line antiretroviral therapy (ARV) failure.

[Feasibility and relevance of safety checklist in the central operating block at the Regional Medical Center, Saint Louis, Senegal]. / Faisabilité et pertinence de la check-list de sécurité au bloc opératoire central du Centre Hospitalier Régional de Saint Louis du Sénégal.

INTRODUCTION: Safety checklist (CL) in the operating block is a quality tool which allows to reduce perioperative morbidity and mortality. That is one of the French National Health Authority requirements for the certification procedure of healthcare institutions. This study aimed to conduct a quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the use of this tool in the central operating block at the Regional Medical Center in Saint Louis. METHODS: A prospective evaluation of the indicators for monitoring the practical use of the checklist and the contribution to the improvement of surgical practices in the operating block at the Regional Medical Center in Saint Louis was initiated since the launch of this study in March 2016. RESULTS: CL utilization rate was 75%, compliance rate was 60%; information rate was 99% for the pre-induction items, 93% for the pre-incision items and 88% for the postoperative items. Only 73% of analyzed CL were filled with an effective oral communication according to the three items. CL helped to detect hardware failures and/or adverse events in 15% of cases. No patient's identification or operated side error were objectified in our study. CONCLUSION: CL contributes in the development of the culture of patient's safety in the operating block and has led to the establishment of a risk mapping in the operating block. Nevertheless, while important, it shouldn't be considered a magic tool to avoid errors but integrated into the improvement in health care quality with other programs such as the reporting of adverse events and the the review of morbidity and mortality.