Dispensary Corner 19 Jul 11
July 19, 2011
THIS could mean the end of textas
the playground.
A Scottish surgeon has come up
with a new technique which could
replace the use of plaster casts for
some types of injuries.
Professor Gordon Mackay said
the method uses an “internal
support” for broken ligaments.
In Scotland, plaster casts are
known as “stookies”, and the
doctor said that when they are
removed “the limb tends to be
festering within and your muscles
have wasted to nothing.
“Anyone who’s had the
experience of trying to put a
knitting needle down the cast to
get to an itch will realise that a
stookie is extremely unpleasant,”
he added.
The method uses a small piece
of tape inserted using keyhole
surgery to brace hurt ligaments,
allowing movement and
supporting them while they heal.
Sports people are expected to
be particularly interested in the
technique because it will allow
them to recover much faster from
ligament damage.
ONE big headache.
A 22-year old man in China has used a lifetime’s worth of luck to survive a fall and a steel pole to the skull. According to local media the man, a builder, had been working on a construction site in Quanzhou when he fell, impounding a steel pole 15 centimetres into his own skull. The 1.2cm thick pole took a whopping five hours in surgery to remove. “It’s very rare to see such a severely injured patient,” said Doctor Zhuang, who confirmed that the young builder is in a serious but stable condition.
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