Fractures

The most wide spread form of locomotion here is the motorbike. You're either walking and trying not to get hit by a motorbike, or you're on a bike trying to avoid the people and goats everywhere. There are some cars, but they are by far the minority. 

People also like to climb trees to get fruit. And they also seem to fall off trees and break limbs, quite frequently. 

The result of those two facts, is a steady stream of fractures that trickle into the hospital every day. 

They're also not simple fractures, set, cast, go. No sir! They're compound, spiral fractures, some open fractures, most old and already infected. Today someone came and asked me if there was anything we could do about his limping. I asked him when did it start and he said 8 years ago, after he had broken his leg. Clearly it healed wrong, and 8 years later, there's absolutely nothing we can do about it... 

The other day I mentioned I got to scrub in on a patela fracture reconstruction. This was a big, strong man, and he actually fell off a moving bus with his knee into the asphalt. It broke his patela in 3 places and kinda looked like a jigsaw puzzle, trying to put the pieces together. 

Then I also got to see a sign-nail intra-medular tibia repair, and that was incredible! 

I never thought ortho would be so interesting, but we really get lots of broken bones here. 

Anyway, the last few days have been a blur of surgeries and patients, also doing mobilization and getting patients out of bed and walking. 

Sorry if this was a somewhat boring post, but I have to get some rest... After 10 days, it seems my stomach finally lost the fight and I've been on rehydration solution and toast all day. Oh well... part of life, I guess! 

(I got tested, it is NOT malaria! Woohoo!!!)