Uganda Spine Surgery Mission 2016: Day 18

Today is the final operative day of the mission, and we intend to sprint through the finish line. The hospital graciously allowed us to use two O.R. rooms today, as we have 5 operative cases that we hope to finish before we leave. Everyone buckled down and really came together to get things done today.
 
The surgeries for the day included: two anterior cervical discectomies and fusions (one for degenerative disease and radiculopathy and the other for trauma) and three lumbar decompressions and fusions for adult degenerative spine disease. Much of the equipment had to be run back and forth between the rooms during the cases, as we didn’t have enough C-arms, bovies and drills to run both rooms simultaneously.

​After the operative cases were done, we still had to pack most of our equipment back into tubs to take with us to the warehouse for storage or back to the states to the companies and individuals from whom we had borrow them. Luckily, Lance is a beast, and had cleaned and packed most of the instruments and other equipment before we were even done operating.

​Our last night in the Mbarara O.R.
 
Exhausted, we made it back to the hotel in time for dinner and packing up our luggage.