Emergency medicine consultant hired by Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) in Gaza, Dr. Mohamed Qandil has successfully saved a patient who was at risk of paraplegia. A five-day plasma exchange (plasmapheresis) procedure put an end to the patient’s more-than-one-year suffering.
Dr. Qandil said, “The medical team at the Nasser Medical Complex handled a serious case of a patient with malfunctioning lower extremities as a result of transverse myelitis.
After plasmapheresis, he started to feel much better, as he became able to walk on his own.” He stated that separating and changing blood plasma was a medical procedure that required referral for treatment abroad, due to the lack of medical supplies, which overburdened the patients.
This new technology, he explained, was first introduced into the Nasser Medical Complex two months ago. So far, it has been used to treat three patients. It serves to treat blood diseases, immunodeficiency disorders, acute polyneuropathy, and post-operative kidney transplants.
“During my postgraduate studies in Qatar under a scholarship from QRCS, I learned at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) how to perform plasmapheresis,” he added. “Actually, the results of this procedure help to alleviating the suffering of patients and give the physicians at hospitals more options of timely intervention”.
The procedures are part of QRCS-funded “Specialized Surgical Operations for Poor Patients in Gaza” project, which involves hiring some 20 consultants and specialists in several key medical specialties to work at Gaza hospitals.
