KINGSTON, Jamaica — The 15th Caribbean Neurosciences Symposium is set to kick off at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St James, tomorrow, and will run until January 29.

The symposium, hosted by the Caribbean Neurological Association in conjunction with the Department of Surgery, Radiology, Anesthesia, Intensive Care at the University Hospital of the West Indies, will provide critical updates for doctors, teaching for residents in training and will also allow trainees the opportunity to interview for electives and fellowships with visiting faculties.

Dr Andrew Rosenthal, director of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery Services at Memorial Regional Hospital in Miami, Florida, will be one of the speakers at the symposium and he is expected to elaborate on the topics of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) during trauma, resuscitation and the use of thromboelastography.

ECMO is a procedure that uses a machine to control the function of the lungs and sometimes the heart.  The term “extracorporeal” means occurring outside the body, while “membrane oxygenation” is referred to as the “artificial lungs” that puts oxygen into the blood and takes out carbon dioxide just like human lungs do.

The goal of ECMO is to ensure the patient’s body has enough circulation of oxygen, by taking over the work done by the heart and lungs. Once the lungs have healed and can work on their own, the support from ECMO is gradually removed.

Resuscitation also plays an important role in critical care medicine, trauma surgery and emergency medicine. It is the process of correcting physiological disorders in an acutely unwell patient. Adequate and timely resuscitation is essential to optimal patient outcome.

Meanwhile, thromboelastography (TEG) is a method of testing the efficiency of blood coagulation (clotting), platelet function, clot strength, and fibrinolysis. It is used mainly in surgery and anaesthesiology.

Incorporating TEG in resuscitation is helpful in determining the right blood products the patient needs, and although not all hospitals have the capability, it is important to recognise and deliver the right blood products at the right time.

“As physicians, our focus is on the health, well being and healing of our patients. We are very fortunate to have an experienced group of experts who gather together in search for ways of innovating treatments while delivering compassionate care to our patients,” Dr Rosenthal said.