| | For some reason, I always get the urge to update during finals week. It's procrastination at its finest.
The past week has been pretty hectic. The zoo has been crazy - Ebony, one of the black rhinos has a bad skin disease and one of her toes was amputated earlier last week. This week we went out to try a new technique for wound healing. We attached a closed suction system to the large wound area and hooked it up to a portable vacuum pulse suction unit which hangs around her neck. This has been very successful in humans and other animals and there's already a very nice granulation bed to work with. Cross your fingers!
The disease that the rhino has causes severe lesions and necrosis of the skin and feet. They become infected without treatment. Here we are removing the dead tissue and draining the infected areas - looks pretty gross but it is essential to getting a good tissue bed for healing. Conditions for doing surgery in the stall are less than ideal, but you make due with what you have - we use a motorized sterile lavage/suction to try and minimize contamination before and during the procedure and use antibiotics judiciously.
Here's a 3 shots of the vacuum assisted wound healing. I took a 30 image series for the company that manufactures it.
We finished off by bandaging the leg with a few layers of modified Robert Jones bandage material topped off with the most versatile adhesive - Duct Tape. This is Dr. Ames - one of my personal heroes.
Also did physical exams on the baby snow leopard, one of the most beautiful creatures I've ever seen or felt. One of my classmates is in love with snow leopards but couldn't get out of class in time to come see her. It was a once in a lifetime chance since she's being shipped out to another zoo this weekend.
If you've ever put an IV cath into a male cat, you know that's hard. Large cats have even tougher skin and rollier veins...makes the job fun, especially in low light cramped conditions.
Earlier this month the tenrec gave birth (actually had to have a C-section). The little bugger is pretty darn small and cute
In other news...snow is on the ground! Cali clearly loves it...Ritz, expectedly hates all weather below 30 degrees.
Alright. Finals M-F...then CA for my first rotation (Neurology/Neurosurgery). Happy Holidays!
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| | Posted 12/8/2007 2:52 PM - 309 Views - 56 eProps - 32 comments
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