On 5/26, I went back to UNC REX at Wakefield to shadow Dr. Dorfman and his colleagues. Today was super interesting because I saw a tympanoplasty which is a surgery to repair a ruptured eardrum. I watched Dr. McElveen take a skin graft from near the ear and use that graft to help heal the hole in the eardrum. The first picture below is a close-up of the skin graft.
The second picture is of the eardrum after it has been covered with the skin graft and another layer of tissue to secure it. It is not completely in place because this photo was taken mid-operation, so there is still a gap.
What was even more exciting was watching a vitrectomy. A vitrectomy is when the surgeon removes the vitreous in the eyeball and replaces it. He also did a membrane peel to remove scar tissue over the patient’s retina. This surgery was performed by Dr. Thordon. He was kind enough to let me observe through the microscope while he operated. It was very important for me to remain extremely still since I was right next to him and was looking through the same double microscope. To be able to do this, I had to wash my hands and arms with a special solution, wear a gown and gloves on top of my scrubs, only touch the sterile objects in the room, and be aware of the non-sterile objects so as to not contaminate. I was nervous because of all of the protocols and being so close, but it was a surprisingly quick surgery.
Lastly, I saw Dr. Dorfman perform a septoplasty which straightened the patient’s septum. The patient had a hole in their septum, so this made straightening it more difficult than normal. He also opened up the patient’s sinuses to reduce infections.