Swan neck camera
February 28, 2008 § Leave a comment
When I first started filming surgery I was presented with a camera I’d never seen before. They called it a “swan neck camera” and the department that used it thought it was the greatest invention in video ever. « Read the rest of this entry »
Plumbing and black nodes
February 26, 2008 § 5 Comments
Postponing is always a factor in my work. Operations are rescheduled all the time for various reasons. Last week I had prepared to film a major amputation, but ended up in the stomach and groin instead.
On this particular day I was originally going to film a hemipelvectomy (or transpelvic amputation, if you like). I’d spent some of the previous day reading up on the subject and was well prepared. Only to find out the next morning that the operation was postponed. The patient had gotten a venous thrombosis and was in no condition for this radical surgery. Must be tough on the patient. He’d probably had some hard nights of mental preparation.
So no amputation, but incidentally a total gastrectomy was on. « Read the rest of this entry »
Inventory
February 21, 2008 § 6 Comments
The last three years I’ve been working on a large project to document cancer diagnostics and treatment. With only one year left of the project I wanted to make a list of all the procedures I’ve filmed so far.
Probably not interesting to anyone but myself, but it’s my blog and I’ll list if I want to. « Read the rest of this entry »
Check out SurgeXperiences 115
February 17, 2008 § Leave a comment
Edition 115 of SurgeXperiences – the blog carnival of all things surgical – is up at Made A Difference For That One.
The theme is “Full Metal Scalpel: The love-hate relationship between surgery and war,” and it is – as always – packed with interesting posts.
Also interesting are the pictures featured. They’re all from the National Museum of Health and Medicine exhibit “Battlefield Medicine 101: From the Civil War to Vietnam”. Visit their photo gallery for more great pictures.
Please consider heeding the call for hosts.
Inner scents
February 16, 2008 § 4 Comments
Normal tissue hardly smell at all. Your skin smell because of bacteria in your sweat. Your mouth stinks because of bacteria, and another source of foul odour is caused by gas producing bacteria. Opening the abdominal cavity does not emit any smells, unless there’s some infected parts, necrotic tissue, pierced bowels or gas present.
Cutting the body is not in itself a source of foul scents, but the way it’s cut can cause smell. « Read the rest of this entry »
Valentine Grand Rounds
February 12, 2008 § Leave a comment
My post on photodynamic therapy is included in this weeks edition of the Grand Rounds – the weekly rotating carnival of the best of the medical blogosphere.
The edition is organized around themes related to Valentine’s Day. What has skin cancer got to do with expression of love? Go check it out!
The Grand Rounds schedule and archive can be found here.
You’re not recording sound, are you?
February 12, 2008 § 6 Comments
There is one question I always get when I’m filming an operation. No matter if the surgical team knows me or not, someone always asks me, with a concerned look on their face, if I’m recording the sound (photo credit).
« Read the rest of this entry »
Surgical steel (well, metal anyway)
February 9, 2008 § 3 Comments
Most people are not familiar with medical terminology. To some it’s just a lot of mumbo jumbo. To others it’s a source of horror.
The foremost purveyor of horror in music is death metal. Raging drums, ripping guitars and growling vocals all combine to create a dark and aggressive expression. Some bands choose to top this off with lyrics about war and destruction. Others feed off the shock effect of the prince of darkness. And some turn to medicine and surgery for help.
I’ll take you on a tour of some of the strangest choices of band name. Strange, that is, from a medical perspective. « Read the rest of this entry »
Check out SurgeXperiences 114
February 3, 2008 § Leave a comment
SurgeXperiences 114 is up at Notes of an Anesthesioboist.
Check out this excellent edition which chronicles nothing less than were we come from, who we are and were we’re going. Impressive!
Edition 115 will be hosted at Made A Difference on February 17th. Send in your posts now! You should also consider hosting an edition yourself.
The Sterile Eye 