Related Posts:
- The Labour Ward, O&G Department – Housemanship Diaries
- The Orthopaedics Posting – Housemanship Diaries
- My “Coming Morning” Priority – Housemanship Diaries
- 8 Best Advices I Will Remember For The Longest Time – The Orthopaedic Posting
- My Second Posting During Housemanship – Obstetrics & Gynaecology
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If there is any place I would rather be in this whole department, it is in the operating theatre. Just like in my previous posting, Orthopaedic, the operating theatre is where I feel alive the most.
As a house officer, it is our duty to ensure the antibiotics are prepared beforehand. For almost all the patients, it is “IV Cefazolin 2g STAT”, unless they were given other antibiotics prior to their transfer into the OT.
Thus, I would usually “smuggle” a few boxes of Cefazolin bottles prior to entering the operating theatre.
Next, we have to fill up the board of information regarding the patient’s name, gestation and parity, antenatal issues, location of operation as well as the operation.
Most of the time, being in Obstetric and Gynaecology Department, the operation done is lower segment caesarean section (LSCS), bilateral tubal ligation (BTL) and occasionally classical caesarean section or hysterectomy.
After the patient has been transferred onto the table and has been administered anaesthesia block, it is time to scrub in with the surgeon!
In O&G, it is important to learn how to drape the patient which is relatively easy and repetitive once you know how to. This is then followed by “time-out”, testing of the incision site by the surgeon and finally, cutting.
During LSCS, most of the time, the medical officers work extremely fast to get the baby out since most of the time, the mother is posted for caesarean section due to acute foetal distress, presumed foetal compromise or foetal bradycardia.
Of course, that is not the case, there are times when a mother is posted due to prolonged second stage of labour, failed induction of labour, chorioamnionitis, refused trial of labour after caesarean (TOLAC) or electively admitted for LSCS.
Personally, the interesting part is during “fundal” when the surgeon finally grabs hold of the baby’s head and as the first assistant, we are required to press the abdomen of the mother to help push the baby out.
After the baby is born, the surgeon would usually wait for a minute before clamping and cutting the umbilical cord and handing the baby to the Paediatrics resuscitation team for neonatal resuscitation.
This is then followed by closing up of the uterus and abdomen in layers and finally scrubbing out to type out the post operative notes.
The speciality of the O&G Department is that they have their own operating theatre in the labour ward known as the “maternity operating theatre”.
However, should there be another emergency case posted while another case is ongoing, the case will be shifted to the main operating theatre.
Related Posts:
- The Labour Ward, O&G Department – Housemanship Diaries
- The Orthopaedics Posting – Housemanship Diaries
- My “Coming Morning” Priority – Housemanship Diaries
- 8 Best Advices I Will Remember For The Longest Time – The Orthopaedic Posting
- My Second Posting During Housemanship – Obstetrics & Gynaecology
- I Survived 26 Days Of Tagging In O&G – Housemanship Diaries
The Theoretical Doctor 