By KT Reporter
Specialists at Mulago National Referral Hospital have performed surgeries on nine patients with severe open fractures under a new collaborative treatment model that brings together orthopaedic and plastic surgeons to operate simultaneously.
The nine surgeries included procedures on two young patients aged six and nine, both of whom sustained severe open fractures in boda boda accidents. The hospital mobilised patients from the Surgical Emergency Department, while others were transferred from the Injury Unit at Kiruddu National Referral Hospital. According to
Dr Joseph Malagala, an orthopaedic surgeon and member of the team, the new approach follows an intensive classroom training programme aimed at reducing the number of surgeries and hospital visits patients must undergo to correct complications resulting from traumatic injuries.
Dr Malagala explained that globally, medical professionals are increasingly adopting multidisciplinary teamwork in complex surgical cases to improve treatment outcomes and enhance efficiency. Mulago plans to integrate this approach into routine care, following a partnership with Global Surgery, an international organisation that trains specialists and develops teaching materials for advanced surgical procedures.
Dr Matthijs Botman, a plastic surgeon and Director of Global Surgery, said their programme targets complicated and neglected surgical conditions, including those commonly arising from traffic-related trauma. Uganda, he noted, was selected as one of the first African countries to benefit from the training because of the high burden of road traffic injuries, particularly from motorcycle (boda boda) crashes.
Dr Botman explained that while the visiting team included specialists from Amsterdam and Australia, all nine operations were performed entirely by Ugandan surgeons, underlining the country’s growing surgical expertise. Over the past three years, the collaboration has trained 24 plastic surgeons and 12 orthopaedic surgeons through classroom sessions and practical workshops.
Experts note that open fractures present a major challenge because they involve both bone and soft tissue damage.
Dr Malagala revealed that at Mulago, such injuries constitute 40 per cent of trauma cases, with 60 percent of these being severe and requiring complex and costly surgeries. The hospital receives between two and fifteen boda boda injury cases daily, reflecting the magnitude of the problem.
Dr Botman added that this collaborative training is especially critical given the lack of global guidelines for open fracture management, particularly in resource-limited settings. Worldwide, he said, there remains a significant shortage of specialists trained in managing these complex injuries, leading to preventable complications, disability, and even death.
The Global Surgery collaborative model has already been introduced in Sierra Leone and Tanzania, and Uganda’s successful pilot could serve as a model for other countries in the region seeking to improve trauma care through multi-disciplinary collaboration.
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