micro surgery pics

[surfn]

pics below are of a micro surgery procedure i did on a lab rat yesterday. its called an arterial and venous catheterization, which is basically the human equivalent of getting a simple IV line.

however, since the veins and arteries are so tiny in a rat, this all has to be done under a microscope as you just can't aim for a vein and stick a needle in it.

the size of the area in the pics is about 2cm across (actually, the wound is 2cm across, but the length of the vein/artery is about 1cm). the size of the tubing in the pics is 0.61mm (0.024") O.D. (outside diameter).......trying to think of something of similar size people can relate to, but i'm drawing a blank at the moment. bigger than fishing line, but smaller than one of those colored wires you find in a telephone cable.

the patient was under anesthesia for about 1hr, and recovered nicely. checked on him this morning and he took a nice dump in my hand...

 

[oceanparadise1]

hahah he pooped on u lol ps them pics are gross

 

[surfn]

ligation of femoral vein (basically tying a knot around the distal portion closest to the foot to stop blood flow from going back to the the body through that vein)

catheter insertion....

securing catheter into place by tying it down to the vein

 

[oceanparadise1]

o man those are even worse lol i could NEVER do anything like that

 

[surfn]

hahah he pooped on u lol ps them pics are gross

sissy! ukeleft: lol

 

[oceanparadise1]

hahah i know i cant stomach that stuff ik ik im a HUGE sissy!

 

[surfn]

ligation of the femoral artery. this is tricky because arteries have blood under very high pressure going towards the limbs. if you make a knick in the artery without cutting off blood flow first, there is enough pressure to get squirted in the face, so you basically have to pinch it shut temporarily. once the catheter is in, you let blood flow continue back through the artery.

catheter insertion....

thats the last of the pics b/c i had a little bit of an "oops" moment right after i took this picture that required some cleanup. but patient ended up doing just fine.

 

[oceanparadise1]

those are even worse lol

 

[surfn]

oh yeah, pics were taken with Canon 40D, Sigma 150mm macro lens, and full set of kenko extension tubes.

lighting was provided by some fiber optic surgical lights, which i didn't like that much b/c they look "yellow", and really messed up with the saturation in the pics.

once i figure out how to use my flash ring i will definitely use that instead.

 

[cparka23]

That's pretty cool to see. Tell me you took your gloves off before you picked up your camera, please.

 

[surfn]

That's pretty cool to see. Tell me you took your gloves off before you picked up your camera, please.

yeah, its a sterile operating field. so i had to take gloves off, put new gloves on (repeat like 5 times) etc.

but my gloves don't really get much on them unless i have a "bleeder", which i did after i took that last picture.

 

[oceanparadise1]

hahah bleeder, remeber that pharse from something about mary LOL

 

[surfn]

hahah bleeder, remeber that pharse from something about mary LOL

yup, and we say it exactly like that while we are operating too! lol :hammer:

 

[oceanparadise1]

lol thats to funny