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An estimated 12,500 spinal cord injuries occur in the U.S. every year, leaving the injured people, their friends, and their family, to cope with the aftermath of the catastrophe. For many, navigating the challenges of the health care system can feel a bit like going to medical school. Suddenly you're learning a veritable cornucopia of new terms, and may be spending endless hours Googling spinal cord anatomy to fill in the gaps in your knowledge. An educated patient is better equipped to advocate for his or her needs and interests. An education in spinal cord anatomy helps you understand what your doctor is saying, ask intelligent questions, and detect medical errors before they endanger your health.
From across the room, using controls and pedals—pediatric surgeons at Golisano Children’s Hospital are now able to operate on patients without even touching them. “It allows performances of deep surgeries in the pelvis or abdomen through tiny, little incisions as opposed to a traditional, large incision to get access to the areas where urologists often operate,” explained Dr. Rahman Abd-El-Barr, a pediatric urologist with Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida.
The DaVinci robot is a robotic platform that allows surgeons to do minimally invasive surgery, leaving patients with smaller incisions and a quicker recovery. “This is important because it allows us to minimize recovery time, pain, bleeding with surgery, and especially with kids, it helps them to get back on their feet right away,” he said.
So when high school athlete, Reagan Rebeor found out she needed to have kidney surgery, she decided to have it robotically. “Thankfully, I did that because if not, I would have had a long scar down my stomach instead of small holes, small incisions. I had pain for three days, three or four days. Then after that, I was fine,” she said.
While it’s not an option for all pediatric surgeries, doctors say it can be very beneficial for teenage and adult patients needing reconstructive surgery. An option that allows patients a quicker and easier recovery.
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A flail chest occurs when a segment of the thoracic cage is separated from the rest of the chest wall. This is usually defined as at least two fractures per rib (producing a free segment), in at least two ribs. A segment of the chest wall that is flail is unable to contribute to lung expansion. Large flail segments will involve a much greater proportion of the chest wall and may extend bilaterally or involve the sternum. In these cases the disruption of normal pulmonary mechanics may be large enough to require mechanical ventilation.
Massive bone defects (>8 cm) will not unite without an additional intervention. They require a predictable, durable, and efficient method to regrow bone. The Ilizarov method of tension stress, or distraction osteogenesis, first involves a low-energy osteotomy1 - 5. The bone segments are then pulled apart, most often using an external device at a specific rate and rhythm (distraction phase), after which the newly formed bone (the regenerate) requires time for consolidation. The consolidation phase is variable and usually requires a substantially greater amount of time before the external device can be removed. Our technique of tibial bone transport over an intramedullary nail using cable and pulleys combines internal and external fixation, allowing the external fixator to be removed at the end of the distraction phase. This increases the efficiency of limb reconstruction and decreases the external-fixator-associated complications.
Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), in which there is a persistent communication between the descending thoracic aorta and the pulmonary artery that results from failure of normal physiologic closure of the fetal ductus (see image below), is one of the more common congenital heart defects.
IV cannulation is a skill that has scared a lot of student nurses and even professionals. Perhaps it’s because IV insertion is an invasive procedure, and nurses are too worried that they might hurt their patients. Or maybe it’s because they are just clueless about IV therapy do’s and don’ts–things that one can only fully understand through constant practice.
Gowers' sign is a medical sign that indicates weakness of the proximal muscles, namely those of the lower limb. The sign describes a patient that has to use his hands and arms to "walk" up his own body from a squatting position due to lack of hip and thigh muscle strength. It is named for William Richard Gowers. Gowers' sign is classically seen in Duchenne muscular dystrophy, but also presents itself in centronuclear myopathy, myotonic dystrophy and various other conditions associated with proximal muscle weakness. For this maneuver, the patient is placed on the floor away from any objects that could otherwise be used to pull oneself to a standing position. It is also used in testing paraplegia.
This is a breast life surgery. Over the years, factors such as pregnancy, nursing and the force of gravity take their toll on a woman's breasts. As the skin loses its elasticity, the breasts often lose their shape and firmness and begin to sag. Breast lift is a surgical procedure to raise and reshape the breasts (at least for a time). If your breasts are small or have lost volume (for example from pregnancy) breast implants inserted in conjunction with mastopexy can increase both their firmness and their size.