Twenty California doctors combined their efforts on a recent trip to Guatemala. They weren't there to soak up the sun. Instead, they were donating their time and energy to bringing the innvoative technologies that we have in the United States to people living in another country. Among the treatments that the people of Guatemala received during the week that the doctors were there was a significant number of varicose vein repair treatments.
The volunteer clinicians from the Bay Area saw over one thousand patients in the time that they were in Guatemala. Of those, over two hundred received treatments for various ailments. Those treatments included plastic surgery for reconstructive purposes such as cleft lips. Treatment for varicose veins was high on the list of procedures done by the plastic surgery part of the team. (The team also included doctors specializing in gynecology, eye surgery and general surgery).
The United States has an innovative approach to medicine. We are regularly updating the tools that we use to bring new and improved treatments to patients of all kinds. For example, vein treatment recently became much more efficient and effective as the result of new technology called the VNUS Closure Fast (see yesterday's post for additional details). When volunteers take the time to bring that advanced technology to other countries, they help individuals and communities across the globe.
Question of the Day: What procedures do you think are most important to the patients accepting assistance from a program such as this one?
