Emergencies

Hello all

We have made the move from elective surgery- scheduled, pre-planned surgeries that don’t involve medical emergencies, to Non-elective/ emergency procedures.

Everyone gets different experiences dependent on their placememt hospital, so personally I have never been in Othopaedics before so I was really excited to see someting new and different as I started my placement in Trauma Orthopaedics.

I still have Emergencies and Obstetrics left to experience during yr2 and will hopeuflly blog about them too in due time. So far, in the space of two days I have seen a below knee amputation, lumbar discectomy, hemi- arthroplasty and a total hip replacement as well as loads of nerve blocks used which I hadn’t seen before. I have had the chance to set up for these blocks and spinal anaesthesia which is done alongside the set up for a G.A as you never know what is going to happen with the operating list or anaesthetic plan.

It is really important to adapt the way you approach patients as they arrive with broken or displaced bones, in a great deal of pain after suffering from a fall or other accident. They also may have reduced mobility which is important when positioning and airway management. This also comes into play when positioning patients for a spinal as you have to take into consideration the pain they are in due to broken bones, so as not to aggravate the afflicted area any further.

This placement is a definite step up from what I have previously experienced and I look forward to learning loads of new skills, putting them into practice and seeing more bone saws being used ?

-Aliyah