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McKenna Loftus

Mrs. Widrick

Lowville Hospital; OR Rotation 11/30-12/3

December 4th, 2021

On my first day of clinical, we first had to complete our orientation. We had to sign some

paperwork, watch a video and then correctly wash our hands. Hand washing is very important

and is the number one way to prevent the spread of infection. On the first day, I got to watch a

carpal tunnel surgery. The carpal tunnel is located in the wrist/ lower part of the palm of your

hand. In your hand, you have the transverse carpal ligament, the median nerve, and the carpal

tunnel which is in the space underneath the ligaments. When the carpal ligament is inflamed,

people tend to experience pain, swelling, tingly, and sometimes even loss of function. This type

of injury is most common in people who type or use their wrist a lot, but studies show that it can

also be hereditary. In the carpal tunnel surgery, the ligament that is pressing on the carpal tunnel

is cut and the pain should be relieved and the function should be ultimately restored. This can be

done either via endoscope, or open; the procedure I got to watch was open. Follow up care for

this surgery includes keeping your hand wrapped in the bandage and sometimes in a sling, and

oftentimes Physical Therapy to help gain back full motion of the wrist. Recovery time ranges in

everyone, but can take anywhere from a few weeks to a couple of months.

I also got to watch a Cataract surgery. This is a procedure where the lens in the eye is

removed and then replaced. This procedure is most common in older people and is one of the

most common procedures performed. During this surgery, you are not put fully under anesthesia

because you will need to be able to move your eye and respond to the surgeon. While I watched

this, I noticed that the surgeon kept telling the patient to keep their eye open and to keep looking
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around. One of the most common symptoms of cataracts are blurred vision, and having trouble

reading things. Due to the surgery being simple and not very long, the recovery is short and

simple. To recover, you have to use different eye drops daily. However, it may take a couple of

days to adjust to the new lens in your eye. Complications are very rare, and commonly stem from

other eye problems.

On Wednesday, I got to watch a D&C procedure with hysteroscopy. There are many

reasons this procedure is done but some of the common reasons are women who experience

abnormal heavy periods, painful periods, and endometriosis. The female pelvic organs are the

endometrium, uterus, ovaries, cervix, vagina, vulva, and the fallopian tubes. At the beginning of

the procedure, I got to watch the patient be put to sleep and then prepped. I learned that the prep

they use must dry for 3 minutes, because it is a fire hazard when using a cautery tool; the cautery

tools are often used to help minimize the bleeding. To visualize the cervix, the doctor inserted a

speculum which gave him a clear view of the cervical opening. However, the cervical opening

was smaller than he had imagined so it was difficult for him to access it. After the cervical

opening was found, he then dilated the cervix using probes that were all different sizes. The

camera was then inserted into the vagina and the doctor began to look around inside the cervix.

This patient was having this procedure done due to heavy periods and painful periods. Biopsies

of the cervix and the cervical tissue were then taken and then were sent to the lab for testing to

see if there were any abnormalities. After the surgery, they covered the patient with a pad, just in

case there was any bleeding. Throughout the procedure, the bleeding was very minimal.

Throughout my whole clinical experience, I noticed that the anesthesiologist would place

a nasopharyngeal airway into the patient's nasal cavity after each procedure. This type of airway

is used to help the patient with their breathing after being connected to the ventilator throughout
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the surgery, it is a piece of plastic. This was interesting to see, and none of the patients fought the

airway because they were just waking up from the anesthesia. After the patient was more awake

and knew what was going on, the airway was removed and then disposed of.

In conclusion of my first week at clinical, it was so much fun and I would definitely want

to go back to the OR in hopes of seeing more things. I am thankful that everyone was so

generous and helpful, it made the experience so much better.

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Works Cited

Carpal tunnel release. Johns Hopkins Medicine. (n.d.). Retrieved December 4, 2021, from

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-therapies/carpal-tunnel

-release.

Cataract surgery. Johns Hopkins Medicine. (n.d.). Retrieved December 4, 2021, from

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-therapies/cataract-surg

ery.

Dilation and curettage (D and C). Johns Hopkins Medicine. (n.d.). Retrieved December 5,

2021, from

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-therapies/dilation-and-

curettage-d-and-c.