Neurosurgery in the Tropics

About the Book

We live in a world where the global burden of unmet but treatable neurosurgical conditions approximates to 5m per year. Patients with head injuries, large heads, deformities, tumours, spinal problems and back pain then present to the nearest general surgeon, who must determine what is treatable and what is not, and who must also manage emergencies that cannot be referred. This book is written for surgeons working in tropical and/or low- and middle-income countries and there is no trained neurosurgeon. It is a practical guide to neurosurgical assessment, diagnosis and treatment, written around presentations and conditions. It describes the common conditions and how to perform the common operations required, and recognises that the general surgeon often needs to perform life-saving surgery soon after the patient reaches hospital. The book is well illustrated with clinical pictures of the conditions, imaging, and figures. This is a book for surgeons to have in the operating room and to review when assessing challenging patients who present with probable neursurgical conditions.

About the Author

The authors have experience of working and/or teaching in many low- and middle-income countries across sub-Saharan Africa, Papua New Guinea, the Pacific, the Middle -East and S E Asia. Both have published on neurosurgery and the role of neurosurgery within global and public health. Prof Jeffrey V Rosenfeld AC OBE JVR is a neurosurgeon from Melbourne, Professor of Surgery at Monash University and the Alfred Hospital. He has extensive military experience with the Australian Military and has a wide experience of traumatic injuries from bombs and bullets. He has extensive neurosurgery experience of tumours, vascular anomalies, spinal problems, and paediatric neurosurgery including congenital deformities. He has travelled widely teaching and training throughout the SE Asia region as well as making many visits to support the development of neurosurgery in PNG. Professor David A Watters AM OBE DAW is a general surgeon, Professor of Surgery at Deakin University and the University Hospital Geelong, but formerly Professor of Surgery in Papua New Guinea, and a Senior Lecturer at the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka, Zambia. Since moving to Australia in 2000 he directed the Royal Australian College of Surgeons' programs in Papua New Guinea and the Pacific Islands, focused on service delivery and capacity building for specialist services.