| |
Surgical Care at the District Hospital provides a comprehensive
guide to surgical procedures that are commonly performed at
the district hospital. It is intentionally limited to emergency
and very common problems and is not designed as a major textbook
of surgery.
The manual is presented in seven parts with an initial section
on organizing the district surgical service followed by clinical
sections which include basic surgical procedures, the abdomen,
emergency obstetrics, resuscitation and anaesthesia, acute trauma
management and orthopaedics. It concludes with a course manual
for teaching primary trauma care.
Using the manual
The manual is designed particularly for use by non-specialist
clinicians, including:
| :: |
District
medical officers and other general practitioners working
in isolation |
| :: |
Postgraduate
medical officers (registrars) |
| :: |
Junior
doctors |
| :: |
Medical
students |
| :: |
Senior
paramedical staff, including clinical officers and nurse
anaesthetists |
| :: |
Medical
and paramedical staff responsible for supervising the care
and maintenance of equipment. |
It should also be a valuable resource for:
| :: |
Medical
and paramedical personnel at secondary and tertiary levels,
particularly those working in specialist areas, such as
trauma care
|
| :: |
Trainers
in:
– Medical schools and university teaching hospitals
– Nursing schools
– Paramedical training institutions
– Continuing medical education programmes. |
The evidence base for clinical
practice
The interventions described in this manual are based on the
latest available scientific evidence. It is planned to update
it as new information becomes available but, since the evidence
base for effective clinical practice is constantly evolving,
you are encouraged to consult up-to-date sources of information
such as the Cochrane Library, the National Library of Medicine
database and the WHO Reproductive Health Library (see following
page).
WHO would be pleased to receive comments and suggestions regarding
the manual and experience in its use. This will be of considerable
value in the preparation of future editions.
Sources for the evidence base
for clinical practice
The Cochrane Library. Systematic reviews of the effects of health
care interventions, available on diskette, CD-ROM and via the
Internet. There are Cochrane Centres in Africa, Asia, Australasia,
Europe, North America and South America. For information, contact:
UK Cochrane Centre, NHS Research and Development Programme,
Summertown Pavilion, Middle Way, Oxford OX2 7LG, UK. Tel: +44
1865 516300. Fax: +44 1865 516311. www.cochrane.org
National Library of Medicine: An online biomedical
library, including Medline which contains references and abstracts
from 4300 biomedical journals and Clinical Trials which provides
information on clinical research studies. National Library of
Medicine, 8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20894, USA. www.nlm.nih.gov
WHO Reproductive Health Library: An electronic
review journal focusing on evidence-based solutions to reproductive
health problems in developing countries. Available on CD-ROM
from Reproductive Health and Research, World Health Organization,
1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland. www.who.int
|
|
|
