Lending a Helpful Hand

Guedalia Sawadogo, age 2, never fully recovered from injuries she suffered to her right hand when she burned it in a boiling pot of cooking oil at the age of nine months. But a Stony Brook University Medical Center surgeon changed that last month for the West African toddler, who is expected to fully regain use of her hand following corrective surgery.

Dr. Alexander Dagum, professor of surgery and orthopaedics and chief of the division of plastic and reconstructive surgery, repaired the contractures Guedalia developed from the healing of scar tissue.

A contracture is the shortening of a muscle, ligament or tendon that causes loss of joint function. According to Dagum, injuries like Guedalia's are common among children in developing nations, but they don't have the chance to have corrective surgery.

"If this type of burn happens in the United States, immediate treatment would lead to proper healing and contractures would not result," Dagum said in a statement. "We were thrilled to be able to help Guedalia, a very well adjusted and cheerful little girl."

He expects Guedalia to make a full recovery, and eventually be able to lead a normal life, following hand and occupational therapy. Her family won't have to pay for the surgery, the hospital said. Doctors expect her to return to West Africa on Dec. 13.

According to a SBUMC statement, Dagum has performed hundreds of similar surgeries for both children and adults in developing countries. The World Health Organization has said burns "remain a major global health problem," the statement said.

Dr. Howard Makofsky, a Long Island physical therapist, tried to help Guedalia regain use of her hand, but could not do so because of the severe contractures in her thumb, index finger, and hand.

Makofsky runs an organization called Kaya's Kids, which helps children in the West African city of Kaya, Guedalia's hometown. He reached out to surgical specialists and Dagum agreed to perform the surgery, assisted by Dr. Michael Weisburger.

"The hand situation had been a debilitating condition for Guedalia, and I wanted to see if we could bring her to Long Island and have the surgery," Makofsky said in a statement.