Papua New Guinea - May 2008

I traveled to Papua New Guinea to start the SIGN program in the capital Port Moresby. Papua New Guinea has a population of 6.7 million, and 254,200 people live in Port Moresby. In Cambodia Dr. Ikau Kevau was invited by the Australian surgeons to evaluate a possible role for SIGN in Papua New Guinea. They operated with us at the Cambodian hospitals and The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons agreed to sponsor the initial cost for the SIGN set in Papua New Guinea.

Dr. Jeff Watson, a Harvard medical student accompanied me. Prior to my arrival he emailed me plans for a very interesting trip to the highlands in Papua New Guinea to visit several tribes and learn about their culture. He is very bright, inquisitive and very interested in assisting the poor and developing countries.

Only three patients were suitable for SIGN surgery. Patients we used SIGN for included a patient with a fractured tibia, a 2 week-old fractured proximal femur in a 17-year-old, and a nonunion which had been fixed with a plate and failed to heal. These surgeries were performed primarily by the Papua New Guinea surgeons. I asked to operate on an eight-year-old girl with a 45° malunion of her tibia. This was very gratifying. This is the second consecutive trip where surgeries other than SIGN surgery were performed. In Afghanistan and in Papua New Guinea these were special patients whom I was very humble and happy to assist in their quest to walk painlessly without crutches. I had the opportunity to present the book Surgical Treatment of Orthopaedic Trauma to the orthopedic staff at Port Moresby. It will be placed in their library.

Lewis G. Zirkle, Jr., MD