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Friday, September 27, 2013

9/27

The last day of week 5 of school is here!  This weekend I plan to go to Eureka and spend some time with my cousins (and try to make sure I'm ready for surgery next week too!) 

Yesterday morning in lab, each group had a dog cadaver.  We performed various different procedures on these dogs including:

thoracostomy tube: placing a tube through the chest wall to assist in removing fluid or air from the chest when needed

thoracocentesis: placing a needle into the chest with a vacuum system to pull air or fluid out of the chest

temporary tracheostomy: cutting into the animal's trachea (windpipe) and placing a tube so that the animal can breathe when there is something blocking the nose/mouth/throat.  This is often performed on an emergency basis where the animal is not breathing due to the blockage.

bone marrow aspiration: sticking a needle into the middle of the bone where the bone marrow is and taking some bone marrow for examination

arthrocentesis: putting a needle into a joint and pulling out joint fluid for examination

urinary catheterization: placing a urinary catheter through the animal's urethra and up into the bladder so that the animal can urinate

placing drains: a drain is usually just a piece of thin, flexible rubber tubing that is placed through a wound to help drain fluid from the wound

It was a really neat lab, I have really enjoyed these labs that allow us to practice these tasks, something that many vets will be doing at some point!  My next lab is next Tuesday in which I will be surgeon!


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