Video summary: Left hemicolectomy
March 26, 2008 § Leave a comment
This is a summary of a video I’ve made of a left hemicolectomy. The video is published on www.oncolex.org. « Read the rest of this entry »
Video summary: Low anterior resection
March 25, 2008 § 3 Comments
Some videos I’ve made of surgery for colorectal cancer was published this week on www.oncolex.org.
These videos are the first made with a new camera stand I’ve designed. It provides excellent access to open abdominal surgery.
This post features a low anterior resection. The next will feature a left hemicolectomy, a cylindrical abdomino-perineal resection (APR) and a peritonectomy with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC).
« Read the rest of this entry »
Check out SurgeXperiences 117
March 16, 2008 § 3 Comments
Edition 117 of SurgeXperiences – the blog carnival of all things surgical – is up at one of my favorite blogs, Suture for a Living.
This fortnight’s edition is especially rich in content, ranging from stories of resuscitation to anatomical street art.
Suture for a Living is the blog of Ramona L. Bates, plastic surgeon and quilter. As she says: “I may ‘suture for a living’, but I ‘live to sew’.” I always thought embroidering would be the perfect hobby for a surgeon. I was almost right. Dr. Bates’ blog contains insightful and educational posts from the wide field of plastic surgery. Be sure to check it out!
All previous editions of SurgeXperiences can be found here.
Please consider heeding the call for hosts.
The next edition of SurgeXperiences is hosted at OpNotes on March 30th.
Paean to the pean
March 14, 2008 § 8 Comments
Hemostat, artery forceps, hemostatic clamp, artery clamp – this beautiful surgical instrument has many names. In Scandinavia it’s simply called a “peang” (pronounced [piaŋ]). For a long time I’ve wondered why we call it that. Here’s the story. « Read the rest of this entry »
Medical mavericks
March 11, 2008 § 4 Comments
Last night I watched the first episode of the BBC miniseries “Medical mavericks” (photo credit). It tells the story of important breakthroughs in medical history by focusing on doctors and scientists that used themselves as guinea pigs. « Read the rest of this entry »
Amateur Surgeon
March 9, 2008 § 15 Comments
A free online flash game called Amateur Surgeon has got me addicted this weekend.
You play Alan Probe, a pizza delivery guy who’s always wanted to be a surgeon. Driving your truck while reading “Top 100 gross surgeries” you crash into an old guy and have to perform emergency surgery. « Read the rest of this entry »
Retirement
March 8, 2008 § Leave a comment
Time passes relentlessly in any profession. Retirement may come as a welcome reward after a long working life, or it may come as an unwanted end. Or so I guess. I’m not even halfway there. Lately I’ve had the pleasure of working with two recently retired surgeons. It seems to me retirement can be a more drastic moment in mentor based professions like surgery.
« Read the rest of this entry »
Check out SurgeXperiences 116
March 2, 2008 § 1 Comment
Edition 116 of SurgeXperiences – the blog carnival of all things surgical – is up at Other Things Amanzi.
Once again it collects some of the most interesting and compelling stories from the surgical department of the medical blogosphere. While your there, be sure to check out the rest of general surgeon bongi’s great blog.
The Surgexperiences back catalogue can be found here.
Check out the call for hosts and contact carnival founder Jeff if you’re ready.
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 »
The Sterile Eye 