11 children from Costa Rica that suffer severe spinal cord problems will undergo surgery this week thanks to the cooperation of four U.S. Orthopedic Surgeons who are part of the Spine Hope Foundation.

The chief of orthopedics of the Costa Rica Children Hospital, Jorge Alpízar, explained that the visit of the surgeons obeys to a cooperation agreement through which the specialists perform complex procedures and exchange experiences with the Costa Rican teams. In many cases the foundation provides high cost medical devices that are not available in the country.

Among the programmed surgeries there are two kids that will receive implants that have a cost of $30,000.00 USD each; both kids suffer from important deformities which will be corrected with devices that will allow them to continue with their growth until they reach an age at which they can undergo a definite surgery. Different forms of scoliosis and Kabuki Syndrome are part of the conditions presented by patients who are between 8 and 15 years old.

The foundation has been working with the Costa Rica Children’s Hospital for four years and receives the sponsorship from the Unibe University where the physicians give conferences for the students. As part of the exchange program, students from this University also have the opportunity of attending internships in the medical centers of the United States where the foundation works.

Spine Hope Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing advance medical treatment to kids in different parts of the world. They work with teams of voluntary surgeons and medical personnel.

SpineHope Costa Rica Global Outreach Program from SpineHope on Vimeo.