About 200 healthcare professionals gathered at the first Qatar Acute Care Surgery Symposium hosted recently by Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC). Designed as part of continuing education efforts for acute care surgery specialists, the symposium tackled the latest research and other developments in the field.
The symposium featured international and local experts who discussed the management of various conditions needing acute care, including gallstones, abdominal sepsis, diverticulitis, pancreatitis, bleeding duodenal ulcer, abdominal wall hernia, necrotising fasciitis, breast abscess and diabetic foot infections.
“Acute care surgery is an evolving specialty that aims to ensure timely access to high-quality emergency surgical care, and to improve outcomes for patients with acute, non-trauma surgical conditions,” said Dr Ahmad Zarour, head of acute care surgery section at Hamad General Hospital (HGH). “Acute care surgeons are highly-trained professionals with a combined expertise in trauma surgery, surgical critical care, and elective and emergency
general surgery.”
HMC’s acute care surgery section was officially inaugurated recently under the leadership of Dr Abdulla al-Ansari, HMC’s deputy chief medical officer for surgical services. Offering an advanced model of care, the section is responsible for the management of all urgent and emergency general surgery cases throughout HGH. In the previous year, the acute care surgery section conducted more than 4,000 procedures.
“Research indicates that having a specialised acute care surgery service as part of a healthcare system is very important in reducing patients’ risk of death and permanent disability, as this greatly improves a patient’s access to timely evaluation, diagnosis and treatment of an actual or potential emergency, provided by a multidisciplinary team of highly-trained specialists,” said Dr Zarour.