Chinese doctor facilitates diagnosis with modern equipment in South Sudan's hospital

(ss.chineseembassy.org)

JUBA, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- Xu Qingtian, a 35-year-old Chinese medical doctor, is using his smartphone connected to his endoscope to detect ear, nose and throat (ENT) diseases among patients in South Sudan's Juba Teaching Hospital.

Xu, who is a member of the ninth batch of the Chinese medical team, is the first ENT specialist to be sent to South Sudan.

He told Xinhua in Juba that he and his South Sudanese counterparts have been able to instantly examine and detect tonsils, and otitis media, also known as middle ear infection, among patients.

"Ear diseases are largely caused by inflammation of water entering into the ear. Other diseases like gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) occur when stomach acid frequently flows back into the tube connecting mouth and stomach," Xu said after examining a patient.

"We carry out endoscopy using a smartphone to scan all parts of the body, we can use it to detect nose bleeding, itching, middle ear infections, and tonsillitis," Xu said.

He revealed that about 20 patients turn up at his office every morning, adding that most of the children he examines suffer from middle ear infections.

Xu, a graduate of Wannan medical college in Anhui province, said many of his elderly patients suffer from Gastric reflux, fungal infection in the ear and nose bleeding.

"We do give the patients medicine to treat the disease, but for some people with thyroid disorders who require to undergo further examination, we send them to the laboratory," he said.

Francis Sooka, a South Sudanese ENT specialist working with Xu, said the medical department set up last year is helping to treat local patients, adding that Xu's modern equipment has been supportive.

"We have a lot of children who turn up with foreign bodies in the ear, nose and as you know our environment is so dusty, we have a lot of allergies, sinusitis, and cases of thyroid disorders," said Sooka.

"He (Xu) has helped us in diagnosing patients. We have our own instruments and he also has his own instruments, some of which are very modern, especially the autoscopy which has helped us to put the right diagnosis," he added.

Sooka said that before carrying out diagnosis on any of their patients they first consult each other to come up with the final diagnosis.

The ENT department within the main referral hospital in Juba is run by four staff members. Enditem