SurgeXperiences 206
September 14, 2008 § 12 Comments
Myelomatosis
Welcome to the 6th edition of season 2 of SurgeXperiences, the one and only surgical blog carnival. It’s my third time hosting this, and it’s been a very interesting each time. I initially came up with the theme “visuals” for this edition. But as the submissions started to flood my inbox, I soon abandoned it. So although I provide you with some visuals, the blogging this time is too diverse to box in.
The images in this edition are all microscopic photos of stained histologic sections and cytologic smears of different types of cancer. In all its horror, even cancer can at some level be beautiful. This edition of SurgeXperiences presents posts on both the beauty and horrors of the surgical world.
« Read the rest of this entry »
Disturbing
September 5, 2008 § 3 Comments
I had a deeply disturbing sensation this week. It was my first operation after the summer vacation, a splenectomy for lymphoma. Very nice to be back in the OR. Maybe a little too nice. « Read the rest of this entry »
SurgeXperiences 206 – Call for submissions
September 1, 2008 § 3 Comments
Heart-lung machine in use during cardiac surgery.
On Sunday, September 14th I’ll be hosting the one and only surgical blog carnival SurgeXperiences for the third time. SurgeXperiences is a biweekly carnival collecting the best of blog post related to surgery (photo credit).
The theme for this edition will be “Visuals”. Interpret it as you like. All posts will be accepted. Start writing and submit your posts here by Friday, September 12th.
The current edition, called “Evidence”, is up at Scalpel’s Edge. Check out the schedule for season 2, and the season 1 archive.
Skin cancer and melanoma videos
August 26, 2008 § 7 Comments
Wide excision of a skin lesion on the left temple.
This spring I was filming procedures for both skin cancer and malignant melanoma. Now the videos have finally been published on www.oncolex.org.
Blood and guts on BBC
August 19, 2008 § 6 Comments
A new five-part series on the history of surgery starts on BBC Four this Wednesday (photo credit). Titled “Blood and Guts”, the series chronicles the development of trauma, transplant, cosmetic, heart and brain surgery, tracing the steps from the cutting edge operations of today back to their beginnings. « Read the rest of this entry »
Surgery of the future
August 19, 2008 § Leave a comment
What will the surgery of the future look like? In this interesting lecture, Jeffrey L. Ponsky MD of the Case Western Reserve University takes a step back to the days of “the bigger the incision, the bigger the ego”, and details the development of endoscopic surgery too see into the future of surgical treatment.
“The new future surgery will be a lot like you see on Star Trek.”
Sarcoma videos
June 20, 2008 § 13 Comments
Today, seven videos I’ve made of diagnosis and treatment of sarcomas were published on www.oncolex.org. Working on these videos has been especially interesting, as sarcomas are a very rare form of cancer, and because of all the devoted specialists I’ve gotten to know. « Read the rest of this entry »
Inner scents revisited
May 21, 2008 § 3 Comments
A while ago I wrote a post about the smell of smoke from electrosurgery, wherein I said:
Opening the abdominal cavity does not emit any smells, unless there’s some infected parts, necrotic tissue, pierced bowels or gas present.
This week I filmed an operation where the bowels, or actually the stomach, was pierced on purpose. « Read the rest of this entry »
SurgeXperiences 121
May 11, 2008 § 15 Comments
Welcome to the 21st edition of SurgeXperiences – the one and only surgical blog carnival – collecting the best from the surgical department of the medical blogosphere. I chose to call this edition “Tools of the Trade”. So what are those tools, and what exactly is the trade? I think the great variety of posts collected here shed some light on the many challenges encountered by surgical people everyday, and the different instruments – be they of steel or grey matter – utilized to overcome them.
As I am no ancient mariner, I won’t attempt to rhyme. But as recent studies show that a picture says exactly the same as 1014 words, I’ll stick with what I know – visuals. I’ve decorated this edition with some photos I’ve taken of aesthetic surgical instruments. Enjoy. « Read the rest of this entry »
Yo mammae
April 8, 2008 § 5 Comments
I was filming a nipple reconstruction. The last in a series of operations to reconstruct the right breast of a woman in her sixties. She’d had a mastectomy for breast cancer. This final operation would be the end of a long and winding treatment.
I had only filmed with this plastic surgeon (PS) once before. Then he’d complained about the senior surgeon’s music and demanded to play Metallica the next time they’d operate together. The nipple reconstruction was being done at the outpatient department. As I entered the small OR, PS was rummaging a drawer full of pink caps. “I have to find a green cap,” he said. “I can’t possibly appear on camera with a pink one!” « Read the rest of this entry »
The Sterile Eye 