Sunday, March 23, 2025
Team 850
Today was triage day: Fr. Chris Eggleton and I followed Dr. Jack Dawson and his Fellow, Dr. Brenden Ronna, as they evaluated two dozen trauma patients, most of whom have injuries resulting from motor vehicle accidents. The very first case was also one of the most poignant: a three year-old girl with one leg 3 cm shorter than the other as a result of a fracture. She was in between her mother and father, traveling on their motorcycle outside Santa Rosa, when bandits threw spikes on the road to make them crash. The dad suffered several broken ribs from the crash and was also beaten by the robbers. Both mother and father were tied up, while the robbers made off with their possessions. After five hours the mother was able to escape and get help, but now they are dealing with their daughter’s leg not growing properly. Dr. Dawson says that in the future a surgery might be necessary, but for now it’s best to let the little girl keep growing, provide a shoe lift to level her legs, and check her again in six months. Jose, the in-house PT says that such incidents of violent banditry are rare.
The easiest cases from the surgical perspective are the ones with no prior surgeries and no infection. But most patients are presenting with complex problems from old accidents. Many had hardware inserted in initial surgeries but then suffered infections that have caused ongoing problems, including pain and loss of mobility. Many were not able to rest enough for their bones to heal properly because they had to get back to work. Some have deep infections and must be scheduled at the end of a surgical day, because after those cases the OR has to be completely sterilized, which adds another two hours.
One older man who has no current drainage, so hopefully no infection, will go into surgery on Wednesday to remove old hardware, put in a new rod and do a bone graft to stabilize his thigh bone, which is still broken as a result of a car accident fourteen years ago. He cannot bend his knee and is not a candidate for a joint replacement, so the plan is to fuse his knee as well, which will at least get rid of the joint pain that he is also suffering.
The schedule is now filled, with fifteen cases for the week. The rest will have to wait till the next trauma team comes, in May. With every patient, the doctors have discussed what the options are, so that patients and family are involved in decision-making and can leave with a better idea of what their course of treatment will be.
Courtney Kim, Team Blogger
