Dr. Tunga: Leading a purpose driven life
Dr. Tungamirai Gwatirisa, a Pediatric and Neonatal Surgeon who recently joined Bokamoso Private Hospital is highly recommended.
In fact, Dr. Tunga as some call him is among a few specialists in his field that have successfully performed a surgery to separate conjoined twins. At the age of 37, the father of three has had the privilege of doing not just one, but three surgeries of this kind.
Eight years ago, Dr. Tunga was part of a team of doctors who successfully separated Siamese twins, Kupakwashe and Tapiwanashe Chitiyo at the Sally Mugabe Central Hospital in Zimbabwe. The twins, who were the first set of conjoined twins to be separated in Zimbabwe were joined from the lower chest to the upper abdomen and also shared a liver.
The success of the operation that lasted for several hours made headlines. The president of Zimbabwe at the time, Robert Mugabe visited the girls in hospital, and commended the team for a job well done. In 2021, he once again returned to theatre for yet another complex surgery. This time around, he was the Lead Surgeon, and the team had to separate two month old twins, Anotidaishe and Atipaishe Mutare who were conjoined at the abdomen, sharing a liver and some parts of the intestines. Atipaishe who was the smaller twin sadly passed away after the procedure. A Pediatric Surgeon treats children from birth through to late adolescence. His interest is in laparoscopic, neonatal, hepatobiliary, urological, colorectal, thoracic and oncological surgeries.
Dr. Tunga told Botswana Guardian that when a baby is born, it is assessed by a Paediatrician to determine whether there are any issues of concern. The Paediatrician will check among others, whether the baby can swallow, pass stool, breath properly, and whether they have any cysts or masses.
If they notice something that cannot be treated with medicine, they will involve a Pediatric Surgeon, who will then ascertain the extent of the problem.
Issues that they attend to include a Hernia ( umbilical/ groin), which he notes is very common and can be corrected with one simple procedure. Other cases include children whose testis have not descended to the scrotum. In most cases, they
will wait for six months to see if they will descend, failing which they will do surgery. “Some health care professionals recommend waiting a while for the child to grow, but by six- months surgery needs to be done. We do this surgery because the temperature in the tummy is high. “The testis can literally be cooked in the abdomen. The longer they are left there, this increases chances of them developing into a cancerous mass,” he explains.
He says a healthy newborn must pass a black stool or what is commonly called meconium. But in some instances, a newborn may not pass that stool within the first 24 hours. As a specialist, he will then be called to come and investigate. Possibilities might be that the child does not have an anus, which if not corrected may lead to the child’s tummy getting bigger and bigger. “This is very common in Sub- Saharan Africa,” he says, noting that it can easily be corrected.
Other procedures he is familiar with include Esophageal Atresia, which is a birth defect, where the baby’s esophagus, the tube that connects the mouth to the stomach does not develop properly. In this case, he says the child will have issues with feeding properly, and this needs to be corrected with surgery to close the fistula and reconnect the two ends of the oesophagus to each other.
Another children’s health issue is tumours of the kidney, which is very common and is called Wilms Tumor. He is yet to come across this one. Shockingly, this tumor might not cause any pain on the child, but the tummy will bulge. An ultrasound can confirm its existence.
“We refer to it as a Grandmother diagnosis as a parent can feel the mass when bathing the child. The child might pass blood, and will need to be looked at by a professional and can be referred to a specialist,” explains Dr. Tunga. His broad spectrum of work includes emergency procedures where a child might have Hernia complications resulting in intestines getting stuck, which is painful and will lead to the child not being able to pass stool.
“We do surgeries where there is obstruction of the intestines,” he says. One of his recent procedures involved an eight- year old girl whose ovary was twisted. Boys too can get their balls twisted, with the latter being very common.
The referral doctor thought that the patient had Appendicitis, a painful swelling of the appendix. But when she came to see him, and they did a CT Scan they discovered that she had a tumour on the ovary. He can also attend to children who might be having issues with bed wetting. This also can be corrected and managed. “There are drugs that can be prescribed, and they can be referred for psychological support. And surgery can be done,” he notes, adding that this might be a genetic issue.
He says 40 percent of the time, one of the parents also dealt with bed wetting. In addition, the doctor says there are other children who might appear not to be able to control their bowels at 6/ 7 years of age. One of his interesting procedures is called Ambiguous Genitalia, where a child’s external genitals do not appear clearly as either male or female. This is one of the most interesting to him. This can also be rectified through a series of complex procedures. Very humble, and passionate about his chosen profession, he believes that no two patients are the same. He also highlights that with each procedure that he performs he is not one to put emphasis on the duration of that procedure.
What matters, according to him is to do an excellent job, and do his best to give his patients a healthy lifestyle. Every time he has a procedure, he takes time to read and study the latest trends in order to fully prepare. “A parent must come to the hospital with their child, and take them back home healthier,” he stresses.
He rarely loses any of his patients, and when that sadly happens, he remembers each and every one of them. Over the years, he has formed some incredible bonds with some of his patients. Each year on their birthday, he gets a surprise visit from his babies, to excitedly hear all about their milestones. The parents also enjoy calling him to give updates about the progress of his babies. “I have been a specialist for five years, and I can remember the children that I have lost as they are not many,” he shares.