Surgeries!

This past week was very busy and exciting. On Monday, we all went to the University Clinic in Bonn. Before going, we knew that we were going to watch surgeries but we were not sure what kinds. Since I am interested in becoming an orthopedic surgeon, I really hoped that we would be able to see an orthopedic surgery. When the first doctor came out and announced that we would be seeing orthopedic surgeries, I got really excited!

Example of a Broken Clavicle

The first surgery we watched was a middle-aged man who was having a plate taken out of his lower leg. During the surgery, the doctors noticed that one of the titanium screws had deformed so they would not be able to simply unscrew it out. Watching them try different things to get the screw out was really interesting. I learned that you occasionally have to be somewhat creative in the operation room. They ended up cutting the head off of the screw, pulling the plate out, and then removing the bottom of the screw with a clamp. The second surgery I watched was for a man who had broken his clavicle. A rod was being implanted so that the bone would heal correctly. Again, the surgeon had to think of a way to get the rod in without leaving a large scar. He made a small incision at the base of the neck that he used to put the rod in. He had to make another small incision further along the collarbone so that he could ensure that the rod went into the other side of the bone too. I really enjoyed going to see the surgeries, especially since they were orthopedic!

Source: http://www.xdtalk.com/forums/members/wild-rice-albums-gsx-r750-picture5716-claviclejulysmall.jpg