Spencer Park Wk 3

Finally I have full access to Eclipsys, a program that will allow me to access current and old patient data. I will be analyzing the effects of different modes of ventilation on the recovery of burn patients experiencing respiratory failure. So far, I’ve met with Dr. Bessey twice to learn about the different parameters involved in ventilation and how they can be modified in various types of respiratory illnesses. I have started looking through the data taken from patients that are currently in the Burn ICU and have tried to analyze their chest MRI images.

            The OR schedule for this week was quite light, involving mostly routine skin grafts. So, with the help of one of the residents in the Burn ICU, I contacted Dr. Pierre Gobin in the Interventional Neuro Radiology (INR) Department to watch some of his procedures. He is famous for inventing the Concentric MERCI Retreiver, which is a cork-screw shaped catheter used for removing blood clots in stroke patients. These catheters are inserted into blood vessels via a puncture created on the patient’s femoral artery. By merely twisting the catheters, they can maneuver precisely to enter the Circle of Willis, an area in the brain where most of aneurysms occur.  I heard from one of the nurses working in his OR that he carried out this procedure on Derek Fisher’s daughter. Initially, only three routine angiographies were scheduled but an emergency case with an acute stroke patient came in requiring special care. I thought I’d get to see Dr. Gobin retrieve the clot from this patient but they decided after preliminary angiography that it was too risky and was safer to leave the clot the way it was.

           

            Two unfortunate events took place this week in the Burn ICU. One patient with bad ulcers and osteomyelitis due to complications from diabetes had to get his lower leg amputated. He is still in critical condition with respiratory failure. He was recently put on APRV and will be one of the patients I will be studying for my research project. Another patient was a woman who experienced bad burns on 20% of her body surface area. After experiencing shock and the subsequent organ failures, she passed away.