'U' medical team travels to Guatemala to care for children

A team of University medical specialists will leave for Guatemala on August 1 to treat children with neurological disorders. The group, in conjunction with the Pediatric Foundation of Guatemala, is attempting to meet the medical needs of children whose families cannot afford such procedures.

The group is an eight-member surgical team, composed of neurosurgeons, anesthesiologists, a pediatrician, nurses and a scrub technician. The team is led by Nick Boulis, M.D., a senior resident in the University Neurosurgery department.

Boulis, who has been involved in the project for the past year and a half, said that the week-long trip in August is more than just a surgical trip.

DANIEL O'DONNELL/Daily Two members of the surgery team, including physician Nick Boulis (right), pack medical supplies for a trip to Guatemala to treat poor children.

"A few doctors in Guatemala will be assisting us during our time there," Boulis said. "Since they will be doing the follow-up examinations in the future with the treated children, we will be educating these doctors and local families, as well as performing the surgeries."

The University team will treat neurological disorders such as neural tube disorders and congenital hydrocephalus.

During the embryo stage, the nervous system of a child forms a flat surface, folding in on itself and sinking down into the body, causing a neural tube to form. Sometimes, the tube does not fully form and does not sink down, thus exposing flat nervous system tissue or causing a failure in spinal functions.

"We will, in children with such cases, use a reconstituting structure to finish what nature started." Boulis said.

Boulis said that hydrocephalus deals with a disorder concerning cerebro-spinal fluid. In the human body, the brain is surrounded by this substance. The cerebro-spinal fluid is, ideally, constantly produced and absorbed by the body. But at times when the fluid is not being absorbed, it builds up in the brain.

"In adults, this build-up causes problems thinking, walking and general behavior," Boulis said. "In children, however, the build-up causes the child's head to grow. This occurs because a child's brain is growing anyway, and the skull is somewhat elastic."

The treatment of this disorder involves surgically adding a sort of "man-made plumbing system, called a ventricle peritennial shunt, which will be able to drain the excess fluid from the brain," Boulis said.

These disorders are two of the most prevalent among the Guatemalan children to be treated. The treatments, though performed in Guatemala City, will affect children throughout the country.

An enormous amount of preparation has been under way for the past year. Debra McCloskey, an R.N. in the Neurosurgery Department and one of the members of the pilot surgical team, has been assisting the collection and organization of necessary surgical materials.

"We have to organize equipment and make sure everything is sterilized properly," McCloskey said. "We're then separating the equipment into kits, so that we can, for one (surgical) case, use one kit."

Boulis said he hopes the mission will have future implications.

"During this pilot mission, we will be testing the feasibility of this project," Boulis said. "The next step will be to use the mission's results to get funding."

"By making this project institutionally funded, we will be able to take this trip on a yearly basis," Boulis said. "One of our final goals is to have six different surgical teams, and have a team go down once every year."

The Michigan chapter of Healing the Children, an international children's relief group, initiated the project. After communicating with the Pediatric Foundation of Guatemala, the need for surgical assistance, and in particular assistance for children with neurological disorders, was established. Boulis said he and his team have undertaken the brunt of the work, not only in terms of medical work, but also in fundraising.

The mission is being funded by a variety of sponsors. Johnson & Johnson has donated equipment and money, and Elekta has given a large amount of shunt equipment. Other sponsors include St. Joseph's Hospital, the Devoy Foundation, area churches, as well as a number of private individual and foundation donors.

07-06-98