Wacky World of Anesthesia Part 1
Apparently I cannot get away from orthopedics...my first day of anesthesia I was assigned to an OR that was doing ortho cases all day! More knee replacements and arthroscopies! This time I was on the other side of the surgical field.
So far, I have tried to insert IVs (I am 1 for 4...not bad I think). Most of the time I blew right through the vein and gave the patients a big bruise. A big SORRY to those kind patients who let me try things on them! I am still learning, please be patient (pun not intended). Even setting up the IV tubing was something to learn how to do.
I also intubated a couple patients. This means putting a big metal thing in their mouth to look for the vocal cords and then putting a plastic tube through their vocal cords so they can breathe during surgery. This is also a skill to learn, but I think I am better at that than IVs!
I am learning about all the drugs that are used to put someone under for surgery. This is my weakness (thanks to the lack of teaching at my med school), but it also happens to be one of the main knowledge bases for anesthesia. We give 1) something to sedate/relax them, 2) something to make them unconscious, 3) something for pain relief to control their body responses to the surgery, and 4) something to paralyze their muscles (if the surgeons require that during the surgery). These are the drugs that are required for general anesthesia. That's not including the drugs to treat side effects like nausea and vomiting, post-op pain relief, blood pressure medication, or any fluids that we give. There are a few drugs in each class that we should know about including their doses and various routes of administration (oral, IV, rectal, injection into muscles or skin...)...PHEW! Oh ya, and pediatric doses.
I spent today at the children's hospital doing anesthesia for dental surgeries (those who know me know that I HATE DENTISTS). We had 2 and 3 year old kids who had rotten teeth that needed to come out and some other stuff done. Poor things. I felt so sad for them. They were so scared and in pain and away from their parents. Not really my cup of tea but I learned a lot.
Looking forward to returning back to adults who can communicate and who I am familiar with.
So far, I have tried to insert IVs (I am 1 for 4...not bad I think). Most of the time I blew right through the vein and gave the patients a big bruise. A big SORRY to those kind patients who let me try things on them! I am still learning, please be patient (pun not intended). Even setting up the IV tubing was something to learn how to do.
I also intubated a couple patients. This means putting a big metal thing in their mouth to look for the vocal cords and then putting a plastic tube through their vocal cords so they can breathe during surgery. This is also a skill to learn, but I think I am better at that than IVs!
I am learning about all the drugs that are used to put someone under for surgery. This is my weakness (thanks to the lack of teaching at my med school), but it also happens to be one of the main knowledge bases for anesthesia. We give 1) something to sedate/relax them, 2) something to make them unconscious, 3) something for pain relief to control their body responses to the surgery, and 4) something to paralyze their muscles (if the surgeons require that during the surgery). These are the drugs that are required for general anesthesia. That's not including the drugs to treat side effects like nausea and vomiting, post-op pain relief, blood pressure medication, or any fluids that we give. There are a few drugs in each class that we should know about including their doses and various routes of administration (oral, IV, rectal, injection into muscles or skin...)...PHEW! Oh ya, and pediatric doses.
I spent today at the children's hospital doing anesthesia for dental surgeries (those who know me know that I HATE DENTISTS). We had 2 and 3 year old kids who had rotten teeth that needed to come out and some other stuff done. Poor things. I felt so sad for them. They were so scared and in pain and away from their parents. Not really my cup of tea but I learned a lot.
Looking forward to returning back to adults who can communicate and who I am familiar with.
posted by MSI (Med Student Intern) @ 5:12 PM
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