This morning I assisted Dr. Faile in the c-section for the woman with the pregnancy in her umbilical hernia.
Pregnancy & Umbilical Hernia
Several weeks ago I posted information about umbilical hernias and mentioned a very rare case we saw. A woman’s uterus had slipped into her umbilical hernia and she was 32 weeks pregnant. She was admitted to the hospital then and put on bed rest until a c-section could be done. I thought I would post […]
Incision & Drainage
We see many skin infections here at BMC. Many have progressed to abscesses and boils. These are collections of pus that have been walled off or encapsulated. They are usually exquisitely tender due to the pressure. The treatment for such is to lance it open – incision and drainage (I&D). Sometimes, there are loculated pockets […]
Skin Grafting (with slideshow)
This Thursday afternoon, I helped Dr. Faile with 2 skin grafts. Skin grafts are used to cover wounds or burns that have a large surface area. The graft is usually made from the patient’s own healthy skin, but sometimes synthetic or cadaveric skin is used. The skin graft provides a framework for the healing process, […]
Heidi’s Patient Last Seen at Funeral
Late this afternoon I went to a funeral in a village about 20 minutes away (more about that later). When I came back I was showing Heidi my photos and she stopped me on one and said “Wait a minute! I saw that guy this morning at clinic!” Apparently, she gave him the right medicine […]
Spinal Anesthesia
Most surgical procedures at the BMC are done under either spinal anesthesia or with the use of ketamine (a dissociative anesthetic which blocks the connection between one’s consciousness and the pain). Rarely is a patient put under general anesthesia. Giving a patient spinal anesthesia is the same basic process as doing a lumbar puncture (aka […]
Cephalopelvic Disproportion (w/ slideshow)
This past week, a young first time mom had been laboring for a long time without any progress. She was a small-framed woman and finally it was determined that she had a cephalopelvic disproportion, meaning that the baby’s head was too big to pass through the mom’s pelvis. I scrubbed in acting as scrub-tech and […]
Uterine Rupture
The maternity ward here is staffed mostly by nurse midwives who assist laboring women in their deliveries. The doctors are called to step in only when there is a problem. Last week, a mother of 7 came in after being in the 2nd stage of labor, pushing for nearly 10 hours. She was exhausted and […]
Sickle Cell Disease
A 17 year old girl presented to me in clinic 1 week after giving birth to her first born child at home. She complained of fever, abdominal pain, bilateral hip pain and leg swelling. She stated that the pregnancy and delivery were without complications. She stated that there was no hemorrhaging after delivery and the […]