Paediatric neurosurgery and COVID-19 projects

Project researcher: Dr Sagar Kulkarni, Academic Foundation Programme

Sagar’s main project was in paediatric neurosurgery under Mr Magdum at the John Radcliffe Hospital. He worked on a project with Mercy Ships, a humanitarian organisation that delivers surgery and perioperative care to patients in low- and middle-income countries aboard a ship. Sagar co-authored a paper reporting the outcomes of a new surgical technique to treat sincipital encephaloceles, a rare disease where the brain herniates through an opening in the skull. The technique reduces complications and recovery time, which is vital in low resource settings. 

Sagar also undertook smaller projects adjunctively. For instance, he completed the first cycle of a quality improvement project on patient satisfaction in acute paediatric neuro-oncology referrals.  

During the first wave of the pandemic in the UK, Sagar diverted his interests towards COVID-19:

• He wrote a paper on the use of point-of-care lung ultrasound in intensive care for COVID-19 patients, which was published in Clinical Radiology. He did this whilst working at Milton Keynes University Hospital’s ICU.
• He also co-authored a review article on COVID-19 in Annals of Medicine and Surgery.
• Lastly, he wrote a light-hearted piece on teamwork called “The Bone Prone Team”. This was published in the Journal of Clinical Orthopaedics and Trauma and received widespread acclaim in the intensive care and orthopaedic communities. 

August 2021