Meet Danna, our first pediatric case!
Danna in pre-op with pediatric nurse Lindy Brown.
The first pediatric patient of the day was 5 year old Danna. She was born with bilateral club feet. When Danna was 3 months old, doctors tried to use the Ponsetti casting method (see below) to correct her feet. Even after 9 serial casts, there was little improvement. When she was 1 year old, Danna had her first surgery completed by the Foundation of Guayaquil at the Robert Gilbert Hospital. At 1 and a half years old, Danna started walking with orthotics but could not walk straight and had a lot of difficulty. She had a second surgery when she was 2 years old followed by physiotherapy for 3 months post-operation. Marjorie, Danna's mom could only afford rehabilitation services for 3 months, so Danna stopped physio 3 months after her second surgery.
Danna was supposed to receive a third operation, however the Foundation of Guayaquil closed and she could no longer receive surgery. Shortly after this happened, Danna's father was at Un Canto a la Vida Hospital receiving another surgery and his Aunt noticed that the CAMTA team was working here. From there, Marjorie brought Danna to Un Canto a la Vida for assessment and exams before CAMTA arrived. This included blood/urine analysis, electrocardiogram and x-rays, all of which Marjorie had to pay out of pocket for. Drs. Moreau, Dobbe and Saran completed Danna's 3rd (and hopefully last) surgery today.
An example of Ponsetti Casts, typically used to treat Club Feet in children. Danna had 9 serial casts, this example shows 5. Photo courtesy of Physiopedia.