Monday
Today we arrived at the clinic, prepared to perform two ACL reconstructive surgeries and see other patients in between. So far, we have seen around 33 patients and scheduled 10 surgeries. Most of the surgeries we will be focusing on during this trip are ACL related, and almost all of them are futbol related injuries. There is such an influx of ACL injuries here in Cambodia because there’s a lack of training surgeons in reconstructive ACL techniques here, so if a patient needs a surgery like this, they would need to travel to Thailand or Vietnam. When we arrived, there was a long list of patients with knee injuries hoping to see our docs while we are in town, so they can expect to be very busy during the next few days.
We started the day off with the first ACL reconstruction with Dr. Cabrera utilizing a Butterfly ultrasound machine to place a nerve block, Dr. Hsin operating, and Dr. Bierbrauer refreshing his memory on ACL surgery and prepping the removed patellar tendon graft for placement in the patient’s knee. Next, Dr. Hsin reviewed scans of patients and provided prognosis for each. Some will need intensive surgeries, while others will require a few months of physical therapy or simply wearing a brace.
During this time, Dr. Bierbrauer prepped for the next ACL reconstructive surgery. We have two available ORs, but with just two surgeries today we decided to use the same one. The second reconstruction was successful with a minor bump in the road at the very beginning: humidity and temperature changes in the OR caused the scope to become blurry! This issue was quickly solved with a new scope lens and temperature monitoring. Both patients were sent home at the end of the day with braces and plans for physical therapy as they begin their healing journey over the next year.
Lastly, our Anesthesia team interviewed patients that were previously cleared for surgery by the docs. Tomorrow, we will perform four more ACL reconstructions and potentially see more patients if necessary. We’re looking forward to sharing more stories about our patients here, so check back tomorrow for more photos and a recap of Tuesday!
