KARACHI, Jan 18: A surge in road accidents, resulting in wide range of severe fractures, has enhanced the need for easy public access to modern surgical facilities.

The facilities should not only be economically feasible, but also hold minimal chances of related complications and infections. Orthopaedic surgeon, Associate Prof Hasan Dost Afridi, Head of Orthopaedics Department, Civil Hospital Karachi, talking to APP said that absence of adequate training programmes for local orthopaedic surgeons was depriving the accident victims of modern and effective surgical intervention.

According to him, among the cases reported in the city, road accident cases are at the top of the list, followed by the mishaps experienced by workers engaged in construction industry, who have to go through a lot of trouble because of extensive application of iron bars and sticks used quite frequently as treatment, exposing victims to "Long Bone Fractures."

The victims, though in need of "Interlocking Nail Surgery (INS)," were often subjected to insertion of plates or rods, which was not only painful but had enhanced chances of infections, Dr Afridi said.

While modern surgical equipment was available at most of the public sector and private hospitals, paucity of adequately trained Orthopaedic surgeons was adversely affecting the victims, he said.

The INS was said to have more than 85 per cent success rate, mainly due to small cuts, which also reduced chances of infections and hence led to early recovery, he added.

Maintaining that INS was also cost-effective, the surgeon elaborated that the reduced duration of patients' stay at hospital and early resumption of routine schedule of work had made the surgery affordable for common man.

To a query, he mentioned that since the nails used in the procedure were not necessarily imported and were also being locally manufactured, besides having good quality, the surgi-cal cost had been further reduced.

"The only hitch is absence of regular training sessions for local orthopaedic surgeons," he said, adding that surgeons' confidence needed to be boosted as they were largely reluctant to undertake the responsibility.

Stressing importance of professional competency on part of surgeons, Prof Afridi said lack of the same might aggravate fractures or at times it might lead to detachment of screws, causing problems for the victims.-APP