January 2025

During our 2-week mission in Ethiopia, we worked at Goba hospital with Dr. Pierre Leyre. The main objective of our visit was to set up a machine donated by Clinique de la Sauvegarde, designed to locate the recurrent nerve during thyroid ablation surgery.

Thyroid removal surgery exposes the recurrent nerve responsible for vocal cord mobility to injury. The consequences of this injury are far from negligible: voice disorders, respiratory problems and swallowing difficulties.
The device for monitoring this nerve was donated by Clinique de la Sauvegarde and flown in. Thanks to the tenacity of our colleague and friend Pierre Leyre, everything works! Dr Kebebe, who has just returned from a week’s training and observation in Marseille, was able to test the device on 3 patients today. It’s a first in Ethiopia! All 3 patients are doing well and have a beautiful voice!

We have also continued our training in laparoscopy, with over 100 cases performed since we started in 2023. Senior surgeons Dr. Kebebe and Dr. Dagim are training their younger counterparts.