David Brown, MD, Professor in the Section of Plastic Surgery at the University of Michigan School of Medicine, and two plastic surgery residents recently traveled to Europe to operate on pediatric burn patients affected by the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, according to a report published by Michigan Medicine. Dr. Brown explained that he makes an annual trip to Ukraine each year to assist Ukrainian surgeons with complex pediatric burn cases; this year, the team conducted their procedures at the Independent Public Health Care Facility in Lecnza, Poland. Ukrainian and Polish doctors, together with the Michigan team, completed 21 extensive procedures to reconstruct the skin of Ukrainian pediatric patients with burns so severe that they inhibited growth; some of the children traveled over 30 hours from Ukraine to Poland to receive this essential care. “The surgeons in Ukraine are more than capable of performing these procedures—the issue lies in a lack of ability to get proper supplies. We rely on their team to guide us to the severest cases, and they rely on our team to bring supplies that they may have limited access to that are needed to perform these procedures,” concluded Dr. Brown.
August 09, 2023