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In-flight surgery with a coat-hanger and silverware

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Re: In-flight surgery with a coat-hanger and silverware

#2
Interestingly, the surgeon published a post-mortem case report titled "Managing in Flight Emergencies" in the British Medical Journal [1].

The title of the publication makes it seem as if this in-flight surgery with a coat-hanger is a routine occurrence. Remarkable!

[1] https://www.bmj.com/content/311/7001/374

Re: In-flight surgery with a coat-hanger and silverware

#3
post #2

Interestingly, the surgeon published a post-mortem case report titled "Managing in Flight Emergencies" in the British Medical Journal [1]. The title of the publication makes it seem as if this in-flight surgery with a coat-hanger is a routine occurrence. Remarkable! [1] https://www.bmj.com/content/311/7001/374

> The patient was now comfortable, felt well and we retired to our seats to recover. Eight hours later I was again summoned by the stewardess to see the patient, who had developed more chest pain and dyspnoea.

> I found her sitting on the toilet with the underwater seal drain on a high shelf. All the water and air had syphoned out of the bottle into the chest. The crisis resolved when I placed the underwater seal drain on the floor—draining the water back from the chest to the bottle. The air bubbled out of her chest when she coughed. After a few minutes she was almost back to normal, but exhaustion precluded the completion of a third full medical report.

Re: In-flight surgery with a coat-hanger and silverware

#4
post #2

Interestingly, the surgeon published a post-mortem case report titled "Managing in Flight Emergencies" in the British Medical Journal [1]. The title of the publication makes it seem as if this in-flight surgery with a coat-hanger is a routine occurrence. Remarkable! [1] https://www.bmj.com/content/311/7001/374

Imagine if publication titles started being clickbait:

"Hero doctors save woman / Surgery ON A PLANE [ambulance called] [near-death]"

Some AI papers like the Yolo ones are ever so slightly like that already... maybe it's a matter of time.

Re: In-flight surgery with a coat-hanger and silverware

#5
The typical way to handle a pneumothorax (without an existing hole in the chest) in pre-hospital care is with a chest decompression needle, which is often a part of a paramedic’s kit:

https://www.narescue.com/ars-for-needle-decompression-3-25-i...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoracentesis

Would have been much easier than using a coat hanger and silverware if they had it on board, already pre-sterilized…

Re: In-flight surgery with a coat-hanger and silverware

#6
post #3
post #2

Interestingly, the surgeon published a post-mortem case report titled "Managing in Flight Emergencies" in the British Medical Journal [1]. The title of the publication makes it seem as if this in-flight surgery with a coat-hanger is a routine occurrence. Remarkable! [1] https://www.bmj.com/content/311/7001/374

> The patient was now comfortable, felt well and we retired to our seats to recover. Eight hours later I was again summoned by the stewardess to see the patient, who had developed more chest pain and dyspnoea. > I found her sitting on the toilet with the underwater seal drain on a high shelf. All the water and air had syphoned out of the bottle into the chest. The crisis resolved when I placed the underwater seal dra…

Eight hours! It's hard to believe the woman's condition was critical enough to require invasive surgery with these makeshift tools mid-flight, but so stable post-op that the doctors did not recommend an emergency landing. I understand they recommended against landing pre-op because of worries about cabin pressure, but why not after the surgery? She's going to have to come down at some point.

Re: In-flight surgery with a coat-hanger and silverware

#9
post #5

The typical way to handle a pneumothorax (without an existing hole in the chest) in pre-hospital care is with a chest decompression needle, which is often a part of a paramedic’s kit: https://www.narescue.com/ars-for-needle-decompression-3-25-i... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoracentesis Would have been much easier than using a coat hanger and silverware if they had it on board, already pre-sterilized…

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