If you have read my posts about Samson and the witch doctor, you know I was dealing with some serious abscesses over in Africa. Nothing compared to the massive incision and drainage of a leg that we performed while over in Kenya. The story was a 12 year old girl was playing field hockey (like ice hockey, but without canadians and the players have more teeth) when she was kicked hard in the side of her leg. Like many of us, she shrugged it off and continued on with her life. Unfortunately, she developed a big pool of blood in the area she was kicked called a hematoma. The hematoma bleed lateral compartment of her right leg and over time, it swelled up, causing pain so severe she was unable to walk. When Dr. Hardison and I saw her she would scream and cry anytime her leg was touched. We knew we were going to have to check it out internally. We brought her to the operating room and gave her ketamine to anesthetize her and opened up the lateral portion of her leg. What followed had to be seen to believed-thankfully I had my camera in the OR and began shooting video right away. Thick blood mixed with pus began pouring out of the wound at such a fast rate it was quickly covering the table and falling to the floor. We grabbed a metal basin nearby and put her foot over it as we explored the hollowed out cavity with our probes and foreceps and pulled out long clots. I didn't think it would ever end as we quickly filled up the metal basin with I would say 3/4 of a liter of blood and pus (if not more) and packed her incision with iodine soaked gauze packing. The next day we removed the packing and cleaned out her wound a little more at the bedside-but after that she didn't have any more drainage and felt well enough to go home!
I think my most memorible incision and drainage was the one I did by myself without Dr. Hardison-and it was definitely the one I would have felt much more comfortable with someone watching over me just in case. This was a small 5-6 year old boy with AIDS and numerous complications. One of his many complications were nearly a dozen abscesses on his neck which Dr. Hardison asked me to individually incise and drain and pack. Once again, the boy was brought to the operating room and given ketamine to anesthesize him. I watched the boy's chest heave in and out-his neck moving up and down with every breath. I took the scalpal blade in my hand and knew I was going to have to make sure I was very careful of any movement and his variations in breathing. One small error and this boy would have a cricothyrotomy or worse. I elected to hold the scalpal blade with my fingertips for better control as I meticulously opened each one and drained them all without incident. Before he left to go home, I was able to finally get a smile out of him.
By now many of you are probably wondering how what I have said will make you a viral video superstar. A few months ago, I was uploading videos of my trip to youtube for later use in this blog. Well, I uploaded the incision and drainage surgery of that child's leg. Yes, I did say in the description that this was a medical procedure done under sedation uploaded for learning purposes, and yes, there are hundreds if not thousands of actual surgery videos to watch on youtube if you are so inclined. Perhaps I should have titled it something other than "EXTREME PUS DRAINAGE" but I figured no one was going to watch it anyway. Well within a few days, my video has 30,000 views! I scratch my head why and then I see on the comments section "congrats, you made the front page of www.popthatzit.com" (not to be confused with pimplepoppers.com or the boilandblackheadblog.com). If there is one thing I have learned in life, it's that there is a fetish for everything-and some people really like to see enormous zits pop. Pimples are just the gateway to bigger pus payoffs-large incision and drainages, sandfly removals, the list goes on and on. Who can say if "pus porn" is addicting, but based on the numbers I was saw on my youtube video-I would say it is. The comments on the video (you can see them here) are hillarious. Some people expressed 2 girls, 1 cup-like nausea and vommiting from the video. In the end, youtube ended my fun by pulling the videos and giving me a warning that if I post anything like that again I will be BANNED FROM YOUTUBE! Thankfully, the more progressive folks at vimeo have not pulled the video, so you can still check it out. I do warn you before watching these videos-it is a very graphic procedure so if you are easily disgusted by blood or pus-do NOT WATCH THIS VIDEO.
I think my most memorible incision and drainage was the one I did by myself without Dr. Hardison-and it was definitely the one I would have felt much more comfortable with someone watching over me just in case. This was a small 5-6 year old boy with AIDS and numerous complications. One of his many complications were nearly a dozen abscesses on his neck which Dr. Hardison asked me to individually incise and drain and pack. Once again, the boy was brought to the operating room and given ketamine to anesthesize him. I watched the boy's chest heave in and out-his neck moving up and down with every breath. I took the scalpal blade in my hand and knew I was going to have to make sure I was very careful of any movement and his variations in breathing. One small error and this boy would have a cricothyrotomy or worse. I elected to hold the scalpal blade with my fingertips for better control as I meticulously opened each one and drained them all without incident. Before he left to go home, I was able to finally get a smile out of him.
By now many of you are probably wondering how what I have said will make you a viral video superstar. A few months ago, I was uploading videos of my trip to youtube for later use in this blog. Well, I uploaded the incision and drainage surgery of that child's leg. Yes, I did say in the description that this was a medical procedure done under sedation uploaded for learning purposes, and yes, there are hundreds if not thousands of actual surgery videos to watch on youtube if you are so inclined. Perhaps I should have titled it something other than "EXTREME PUS DRAINAGE" but I figured no one was going to watch it anyway. Well within a few days, my video has 30,000 views! I scratch my head why and then I see on the comments section "congrats, you made the front page of www.popthatzit.com" (not to be confused with pimplepoppers.com or the boilandblackheadblog.com). If there is one thing I have learned in life, it's that there is a fetish for everything-and some people really like to see enormous zits pop. Pimples are just the gateway to bigger pus payoffs-large incision and drainages, sandfly removals, the list goes on and on. Who can say if "pus porn" is addicting, but based on the numbers I was saw on my youtube video-I would say it is. The comments on the video (you can see them here) are hillarious. Some people expressed 2 girls, 1 cup-like nausea and vommiting from the video. In the end, youtube ended my fun by pulling the videos and giving me a warning that if I post anything like that again I will be BANNED FROM YOUTUBE! Thankfully, the more progressive folks at vimeo have not pulled the video, so you can still check it out. I do warn you before watching these videos-it is a very graphic procedure so if you are easily disgusted by blood or pus-do NOT WATCH THIS VIDEO.
Incision and drainage 2 from dan ketterer on Vimeo.
Leg Incision and drainage and exploration from dan ketterer on Vimeo.
More Swahili Translations
Try this rope swing Jimmy, it's super fun and it takes you right over acid crocodile lake! There you go, you got it....AAAGHHHHHHH!
Kamba ilikatika alipokuwa akibembea
The rope cut as he was swinging
Betsy Ross's husband's style of parenting
Alimwumiza mtoto kwa sindano kubwa
He injured the child with a big needle
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