Surgeon Tools

Video Transcript

"The exciting part of an orthopedic surgeon is that we do essentially do carpentry work on the human skeleton. And there are exciting new advancements in the implants we use and total joint surgery. There are advancements in the use of computers in assisting us in replacing total joints. There are advancements in materials that make the total joint be able to last longer. There are surgical improvements that are coming out all the time. Arthroscopic surgery came on the scene about twenty years ago. We now do about seventy percent of all of our surgeries, that aren't total joint surgeries, through the arthroscope. There are exciting new advances in this field every day that requires staying up and going to courses to keep current, but it's a very very exciting profession because of the advances that are taking place at all times. The other tools of course are the common tools of communication. We use computers. We spend a lot of time talking to patients on the phone. We are presently involved in trying to do paperless record keeping, but record keeping is an essential part of our profession. So there are tools that are coming out every day that facilitate that type of activities that we're involved in on a daily basis. But generally those are the things that we use and they're exciting because every day we get to where there seems to be a new procedure or new instrument that allows us to do something better. Specifically in my profession, I've been using a new anterior post to the hip so I'm using a special fracture table in order to put the patients on. The anesthesiologist replacing pain catheters that drip novacaine on a nerve so that eliminates their pain, they're using an ultrasound to replace that. They're using special monitors to monitor the blood saturation and other things. So there's just an explosion of technology that has greatly facilitated our ability to care for patients better."