HISTORY
The Department of Anaesthesia, College of Medicine, University of Nigeria Ituku-Ozalla Campus was founded as a component of the Faculty of Medicine of the Medical School, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus (UNEC). The department is a major part of the Division of Surgery of the former Faculty of Medical Sciences and Dentistry, now known as the Faculty of Medical Sciences. The department was a sub-department until 1974 when it was given a status of a full department. Pioneer Physician anaesthetists at the inception of this department were two Consultant Anaesthetists, Dr. P. O. Nwachukwu and Dr. Thaddeus Eziashi. By January and February 1978, Dr. Okechukwu and Prof B.U.O Umeh joined the team. Since then several other exceptional Anaesthetists have passed though the Department. Notable among these are the following Consultants: Dr. Humphrey A Ezike, Dr Kodilinye Izuorah, Dr. Mrs Fidelia Akpa, Dr. Nnamdi Ewuzie and Prof. Patrick Nze. The department has five senior lecturers: Dr. Tonia C. Onyeka, Dr Ugochukwu Okafor, Dr. Fidelis Onyekwulu, Dr. Obinna Ajuzieogu and Dr. Adaobi Amucheazi. Other Consultant Physician Anaesthetists in the department include Dr. Emeka Onyia, Dr. Ejike Arum, Dr. Ogochukwu Nwoke, Dr. Paul Ufoegbunam, Dr. Elias Onuorah and Dr. Emeka Okorie.
The Department of Anaesthesia has some outstanding achievements to its credit. Dr. Thaddeus Eziashi was the pioneer of the Biafra wartime invention of a portable anaesthetic machine made with a draw-over vapourizer that made use of supplemental oxygen inessential. This device he created during his early days of anaesthetic practice on the horrible Nigerian Civil war battlefield was born out of the urgent need to tend to teeming number of wounded Biafran soldiers. Dr. Eziashi and Dr, P. Nwachukwu developed and ran the Post Basic Nurse Anaesthetists program of College’s affiliate hospital (the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Ituku-Ozalla) immediately after the Nigerian Civil War in 1971, in a bid to train nurse anaesthetists to help alleviate the acute anaesthesia manpower shortage experienced at the time. The program is still on, involving the training of nurses from other ECOWAS countries.
This department runs ten (10) theatres presently and boasts of the best Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in the country. Currently headed by Dr. Obinna Ajuzieogu, the Department’s ICU in 2017 was a study site for the famous WOMAN trial, an international, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial that examined the effect of early tranexamic acid administration on mortality, hysterectomy, and other morbidities in women with post-partum haemorrhage. In addition, the ICU has successfully nursed several patients following the conduct of open heart surgeries on them by foreign medical mission teams that operate from time to time in the hospital. In 2009, a Senior Lecturer in the Department, Dr. Ugochukwu Okafor emerged as winner of the 2009 Professor Chinedu Nwokolo Prize for Academic Excellence in the College of Medicine. A dedicated pre-anaesthesia clinic runs weekly to see and prepare patients with co-morbidities preoperatively. The department has a Pain & Palliative Care Unit, which also is a sub-unit of the Multidisciplinary Oncology Centre of its affiliate hospital headed by a Consultant Anaesthetist, Dr. Tonia Onyeka. The sub-unit is a hub for clinical research and has held numerous trainings for healthcare workers on managing pain. In 2018, it was awarded a research grant from the Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research in Atlanta, Georgia USA, making it the first non-American/first International recipient of the award since the inception of the foundation in 2005.
Anaesthesia Department conducts undergraduate training of medical students with a broad spread of topics and is one of just three Anaesthesia departments in the country to introduce lectures on pain management and palliative medicine to medical students. It also conducts postgraduate residency training for resident doctors, with accreditation from the West African College of Surgeons and National Postgraduate Medical College. During this period, residents are expected do clinical work, attend and present at weekly clinical meetings, undertake a rural posting and produce a dissertation, all requirements for obtaining a Fellowship in Anaesthesia. In addition, the Department supervises anaesthetic technicians employed by her affiliate hospital to work in theatre. The department has also hosted numerous workshops and trainings on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, Anaesthetic Equipment Maintenance and yearly Fellowship update courses.
CORE VALUES
The department’s core values are safety, integrity, professionalism, excellence and team work
Courses for Medical Students
- ANE 501: Principles, and Practice of Anaesthesia
- ANE 502: Clinical Anesthesiology, Resuscitation
Subspecialty Rotations for Residents
Neurosurgery
Cardiothoracic surgery
Intensive Care
Pain Medicine & Palliative Care
Obstetric Anaesthesia
Pediatric Anaesthesia
Ophthalmic Anaesthesia
Pre-Anaesthesia Clinic
Academic Staff
| S/N | NAME | DESIGNATION | SUBSPECIALTY | |
| 1. | Dr. Tonia C. Onyeka | Consultant Physician Anaesthetist (HOD) | Pain Medicine, Palliative Medicine | tonia.onyeka@unn.edu.ng |
| 2. | Dr. UV Okafor | Consultant Physician Anaesthetist | Critical Care/Obstetric Anaesthesia | vincent.okafor@unn.edu.ng |
| 3. | Dr. Fidelis Onyekwulu | Consultant Physician Anaesthetist | Cardiothoracic Anaesthesia | Fidelis.onyekwulu@unn.edu.ng |
| 4. | Dr. Obinna Ajuzieogu | Consultant Physician Anaesthetist | Pediatric Anaesthesia/ICU | Obinna.ajuzieogu@unn.edu.ng |
| 5. | Dr. Adaobi Amucheazi | Consultant Physician Anaesthetist | Obstetric Anaesthesia | Adaobi.amucheazi@unn.edu.ng |