Today, I scrubbed in to the operating theatre. Just for experience. The patient was a case of right inguinal hernia, apparently irreducible, so there's a large swelling extending into his scrotal region. I was a bit slow when I scrubbed (first time), so when I entered the room, the surgeons had already cut open the skin to the hernial sac. They were handling a pile of yellowish and reddish 'stuff'. Frankly, I don't know what they were. I guessed the yellow globular part would be the fat and the reddish parts were the layers of fascia and muscles.
Anyway, there were two surgeons, and they were very nice. According to one of them, the case was a bit complicated, as there were many adhesions, and I saw them sorting out the layers, trying to reduce and find the point for suturing. Well, I couldn't really describe what happened, as I myself was not quite sure what was happening. But roughly, I think, after reaching the sac, they reduced the contents, then excised the sac and sutured the neck, followed by the addition of a mesh to strengthen the wall.
It was quite an experience, especially for a medical student. I was able to 'assist' a little, mainly helping to maintain the surgeons's visual field, though I was a bit 'slow' at times. Haha. The worse part was when the surgeon asked me what he was doing or what the structure was, I couldn't really answer. Well, some of the answers, I already knew (I've just read on it). But at the verge of the questions, I went totally blank. Haiz.
Anyway, it was a good experience. At least I was able to have a closer look, with my own eyes, at the procedure. When I read back on the topic, the visualizations, the images in my mind will come useful to help clear some doubts and improve my understanding. Nice.
On another note, I noticed that the surgeons had been standing whole day long, and they hadn't eaten at all, as far as I know. It's quite incredible. After a surgery, they would then proceed with the next one, till the list for the day finished.
0 comments:
Post a Comment