Today was my last day getting to work with Dr Youssef. I observed him in the OR again today, except this time he briefly let me see what he was doing; I got to see the spinal cord that had been fully exposed due to his dissection of the vertebrae. It was interesting because you would think that if they were going to make the incision on the back, the spinal cord would be very close to the back, but it turns out that the spinal cord is actually a good four inches inside the body, and is encased by that much vertebrae.
I also learned a little about the neuro-monitoring systems they used in order to ensure that when Dr Youssef was drilling screws into the back, he wouldn't strike a nerve. It was cool to see how the nerves in the body would emit signals that let the neuro-physiologist know just how close Dr Youssef was coming to the nerves.
But nerves aren't the only thing that Dr Youssef had to worry about. The aorta and the venacava both run very close to the spinal cord, which is something to be concerned about, because if Dr Youssef were to drill into one of those blood vessels, the patient would lose three liters of blood in two seconds, resulting in death. The kidneys are also near the lumbar spine, but it is much less likely that he would hit one of those with his drill. And of course there is the actual spinal cord to worry about; if Dr Youssef were to damage the spinal cord in any spot, every part of the body below that spot would lose functionality, resulting in paralysis.
Spinal surgery seems to me like a very stressful and complicated thing, yet people like Dr Youssef operate on arguably one of the most sensitive parts of the body several times each week, which is an amazing ability in and of itself.
Tomorrow Dr Lawton will be back in the office and I will start my project with him.
I also learned a little about the neuro-monitoring systems they used in order to ensure that when Dr Youssef was drilling screws into the back, he wouldn't strike a nerve. It was cool to see how the nerves in the body would emit signals that let the neuro-physiologist know just how close Dr Youssef was coming to the nerves.
But nerves aren't the only thing that Dr Youssef had to worry about. The aorta and the venacava both run very close to the spinal cord, which is something to be concerned about, because if Dr Youssef were to drill into one of those blood vessels, the patient would lose three liters of blood in two seconds, resulting in death. The kidneys are also near the lumbar spine, but it is much less likely that he would hit one of those with his drill. And of course there is the actual spinal cord to worry about; if Dr Youssef were to damage the spinal cord in any spot, every part of the body below that spot would lose functionality, resulting in paralysis.
Spinal surgery seems to me like a very stressful and complicated thing, yet people like Dr Youssef operate on arguably one of the most sensitive parts of the body several times each week, which is an amazing ability in and of itself.
Tomorrow Dr Lawton will be back in the office and I will start my project with him.
