Monday, 11 June 2007
Tracheostomies
Jjust wanted to tell you all about last Friday when I got to see a trachy being done in ICU. Once patients have been with us for more than about a week, the medical team start to consider trachy's as a more long-term way of keeping airways patent, etc. So... they made a transverse incision halfway between the cricoid cartilage and sternal notch, popped in a guiding wire, syringe for ETCO2 monitoring and then what they called a rhino horn to dilate the incision before putting in the cuff/tube etc.... It was so interesting to watch and now I have a much better understanding of trachys (it also made me feel quite queasy though which was so embarassing. Any tips for vaso vagal reactions?!). I wonder what these patients think when they come off their sedatives and wake up with a trachy...do you think they would be unbearably uncomfortable? Must be a very strange feeling. Has anyone else seen any more interesting surgical procedures; and did they find them helpful to understand more about something?
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hey Amanda, how cool. It really is amazing how much help it is in understanding something when you actually get to see it upfront and personal. On my last prac for women's health i was fortunate enough to see two c/sections. These were amazing. I had oftened wondered why after the c/s the mother is so restricted in what she can do and the long term rehab of it but after i saw the surgery i completely understood that having a c/s is actually major surgery, something i think alot of mothers-to-be aren't aware of. It really helped put things in perpspective and allowed me to have a greater understanding when i went and saw the mothers after their delivery to treat them. Here's to watching more surgeries and procedures and learning as much as we can in hopes we all can become the best PT's possible.
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