The most satisfying medical procedure...

tallaght01

For me it has to be intubation.

I was tubing a 6 year old the other day, and I was thinking to myself "This is the ****".

For me it used to be getting the difficult cannula into a baby. But I think tubing edges it these days?

What do others get real satisfaction out of?

Doesn't have to be a doctor procedure, or an emergency one.

PaddyofNine

Chest tubes!

There's a little give just as you pop into the thorax, it never fails to satisfy. Makes up for hours of rounding on geriatrics tweaking blood pressure medication and having 40 minute bedside discussions about pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism.

DrIndy

sperm donation

Amnesiac_ie

Inserting a Seldinger chest drain... although the simple art of catheterising acute retention provides such instant and obvious relief for the unfortunate patient that it rarely fails to satisfy... even I feel it should be a nursing procedure and not a medical one!

Tree

Procedure, not so much, but i am the fan of the venous blood sample. Keeps me in a job and utterly fascinated.

Traumadoc

Needle crichothyroidotomy, and as a result seeing the childs heart start again.

RobFowl

A bit less macho but I never fail to get a buzz from listening to the Foetal heart beat with a doppler us. (Ps chest drains very satisfying as well,)
Gave adrenaline to some one in severe analphyacyic shock (allergic) once and he came round with in a minute, fecker didn't even say thanks!
Least satisfying starting CPR on a elderly lady in a nursing home when she vomitted into my mouth (only a care assistant with me and she had gone for help. We go her back but she died for aspiration pneumonia about 2 weeks alter in ICU

DrIndy

atropine in a bradycardia or amiodarone in a VT is fantastic. They just magically wake up.

Thrombolysis is cool too - but going out of fashion.

Fionnanc

Closed joint reduction under sedation or reduction and casting of Granny's Colles under haematoma block. Ring block and reduction of dislocated IPJ's.
Reduction of closed tibial fracture.

And lastly if the patient is agreeable, opening a pilonidal abscess. Loads of pus, usually smelly, can clear out a causualty in minutes. Naturally this is painful most people choose to be wait for a general anaesthetic( if so you can stink out the Theatre), but occasionaly somebody decides to take the 30 secs of pain and out with regular dressing. Its nice that some people still have a fear of general anaesthesia.

Blasting in adensoine for haemodynamically unstable or associated chest pain ?SVT is also good.

Least favourite, drawing up the f*cking paracetemol antidote for the teenage girls who do very stupid, silly things.

Chunky Monkey

tallaght01 wrote: »

Doesn't have to be a doctor procedure, or an emergency one.

Fair enough...making a perfect bed sheet corner using only one hand

And convincing a stubborn patient to eat their dinner.

PaddyofNine

As for least favourite, saw someone have a stroke in front of my eyes - face droop and all - about 10 minutes after getting thrombolysis for their MI one night. That's what I call having a bad day!

Fionnanc

Hitting your colleague's head with the theatre lights is a great little procedure.

Favourite medical procedure is lashing in the glucose IV in the unconscious hypoglycaemic/Addisons. Discharging/Turfing vague abdomninal pains to medics.
Accidently getting blood/faeces/pus on to the theatre floor(sometimes the ceiling and lights lol). Being rude to our psychiatry colleagues at 3am.

Our jobs are great.