Surgical Care at the District Hospital

Many patients who present to district (first-referral) level hospitals require surgical treatment for trauma, obstetric, abdominal or orthopaedic emergencies. Often surgery cannot be safely postponed to allow their transfer to a secondary or tertiary-level hospital, but many district hospitals in developing countries have no specialist surgical teams and are staffed by medical, nursing and paramedical personnel who perform a wide range of surgical procedures, often with inadequate training. The