Welcome New year With Hope, not with Injuries!

         Happy New Year to everyone! No long blog post for today.  Just a quick greeting and reminder to everyone to welcome the coming new year with hope, not with injuries from playing with firecrackers!

          I know the Department of Health has been educating the public about the risks and hazards of playing with firecrackers, but the latest news as of this writing is that at least 200 have already been injured from playing with these firecrackers. Since orthopedic injury or disease prevention has also been my advocate, I might as well join them in trying to scare you. hehe

     The following are some pictures or the orthopedic instruments we use in the process of treating firecracker injuries

       The figure above is a bone saw. You know what a bone saw is? It is used to saw a bone.   (Sometimes, I get mesmerized by my own intelligence).   It's my favorite instrument.(joke)

       This is a Gigli saw.  It is also used to cut bones. The saw is composed of a wire blade and two handles.  Easier to use and more soft tissue-friendly than the first picture above.

       This is a drill, the same kind we use for house construction (I'm not kidding!). This is used to drill the pins or wires through the bone.

         As you can see, I'm trying to gross you out, and I'm having fun!

This is a mallet. It is used to pound on the chisel or osteotome to cut the bone smoothly.

     The above picture is an antenna-like structure called external fixator. It is usually used in wrist and forearm injuries to connect together broken bones.

      And now to scare the daylights out of you, my non-medical, non-ortho friends, the following is a picture of a firecracker injury...

 

photo courtesy of Dr Edsel Arandia

And another one....

Photo courtesy of Dr. Harem Deiparine

       Seriously, firecracker injuries are senseless injuries that are highly preventable and will have  great impact on your future.  You will definitely regret playing with one for the rest of your life.

Happy New Year and stay safe everyone!

3 Cool Facts About Orthopedic Surgeons

Most medical specialists have some kind of stereotype associated with them: Dainty dermatologists, nerdy neurosurgeons, friendly pediatricians... So that a male medical student who is tall or big, sports-minded and good-looking (Ok, maybe with exceptions to the last one), will most likely be told, “Uy, pang-ortho ka” ("You should be an orthopedic surgeon"). 

However, orthopedic surgeons are also stereotyped as menacing and intimidating.  Armed with tools of the trade such as drills, mallets and nails, an injured patient at the ER takes one look and freezes with terror.  In fact, an orthopedic OR pretty much looks like a carpenters' workshop with all the gadgets and tools--- only sterilized!

So what got me interested in orthopedic surgery  in the first place (aside from being tall, sporty and ...)?

Well, first of all, during my hospital internship,  the orthopedic consultants and residents I met were some of the coolest doctors around.  Other specialists were much too busy or cranky, in med lingo, “toxic”, but orthos always managed to keep their mojo.

Secondly, most orthopedic patients immediately feel the improvement in their condition. They come to the E.R. in severe pain or all broken and torn, then they go home relieved of pain, in one piece and all stitched-up. The sense of fulfillment in treating ortho patients was immediate and gratifying.

Third, I was amazed at the orthos' gung-ho attitude and knack for improvisation. 

For example, early in my training, one of the  first patients I encountered in the E.R. was an old patient  with a wrist fracture.  My senior resident instructed me on how to fix the fracture using an antenna-like structure called an external fixator.  The power drill needed to attach the device to the wrist could not be located, but since the patient was already anesthetized, we had to make-do with an ancient, rusty, hand-powered drill. (Did I say sterile? Yes, it was sterilized, rust and all!)  

As the senior resident showed me how to drill the bone, I got really nervous.  Prehistoric equipment older than my grandmother was definitely NOT going to work, I thought.  In spite of the lack of modern equipment, he deftly guided me from drilling my own hand and getting the treatment done.  As the pin went through the bone, I felt like a medic in a World War II hospital camp.  But the job was accomplished and I marveled at how cool this surgeon was about improvising when the situation wasn't exactly like ortho textbooks said it should be. 

In my city-based private practice, I still occasionally find my improv skills very useful, but glad  that I do not have to use it as often as some of my colleagues in the provinces.

These are some of the cool facts about orthopedic surgery that attracted me to this field of medicine. Besides, outstanding orthopedic surgeons has a nice ring to it, don't you think?

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Orthopedic joke:

A 70-year-old man sat down in the orthopedic surgeon's office.

Patient: "You know, Doc," he said, "I've made love in more exotic cars than anyone I know. Must be at least a thousand."

Orthopedic Doctor: "And now, I suppose, you want me to treat you for the arthritis you got from scrunching up in all those uncomfortable positions,"

Patient: "Hell, no," the old fellow replied. "I want to borrow your Lamborghini."

source:http://www.jokebuddha.com/joke/The_70yearold_man_sat#ixzz1LCqTA03N