A week-long free ear surgical camp was held in Paro this week. The surgical camp at the Paro District Hospital treated 30 patients with chronic ear infections.
The surgeries were led by Dr. Wolfgang Weitzsacker from Germany and Dr. PhubTshering from the National Referral Hospital in Thimphu.
This is 2nd ear surgical camp in Paro. The first one, conducted last year, treated 60 patients.
“Our aim is to make the ear safe because if the disease process like cholesteatoma keeps on expanding then it can threaten the life of a person. It can lead to several complications. The infection can spread to the brain, it can cause serious problems and it can cost the patient’s life.
“So here the main aim is to first remove the disease process, make the ear safe and if possible to improve the hearing of the patient,” said Dr. Phub Tshering, ENT Surgeon, JDWNRH.
Dr. Wolfgang said he always wanted to come to Bhutan, but not just as a tourist. He said he became a part of this project after Dr. Phub Tshering, whom he met through the internet, invited him to Bhutan.
“Actually, I’m an ENT surgeon in Germany and work in a hospital. In my holidays, I go overseas and do these surgery courses. So we got in contact and he was pleased to do some work together,” added Dr. Wolfgang.
Dr. Wolfgang is also teaching the Bhutanese surgeons a simpler method to do operations. He said such practice is much faster than the one applied by doctors in Bhutan. For this purpose he has also brought in special equipment from Germany.
