It was crazy busy and there were tons of traumas but our pods were packed so i stayed behind and helped run them while the resident was busy intubating and putting in chest tubes [my time will come!].
At around 3am I did my first LP [lumbar puncture].
In lamens terms, I stuck a 6cm needle into the lower back of a women to rule out a sub-arachnoid hemorrhage as a cause of her headache. The spinal cord is not that low so there is no risk of paralization, but its still a tricky procedure. Unfortunately, i didnt get any CSF...only blood. [CSF is the spinal fluid...it should be completely clear...hence the name 'champagne tap' when you get clean CSF with no traumatic tap/blood].
It was my first try so I didnt beat myself up when after several attempts, we got a new needle and the resident tried. Made me feel a hell of a lot better when the resident tried several times and then had to call the attending because we weren't getting the fluid we needed.
next time will be easier, i hope...
Things quited down around 5am and I sat down with the resident and attending and good some great feedback from them. Couldn't be happier about how I ended my rotation at this incredible residency program! *fingers crossed for an interview there this fall!*
No comments:
Post a Comment