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'the doctors successfully released the trapped air from the patient's chest, and she spent the rest of the flight uneventfully eating and watching in-flight mov

'the doctors successfully released the trapped air from the patient's chest, and she spent the rest of the flight uneventfully eating and watching in-flight movies'

nomilk 5y ago
It's so good it warrants standing applause.
WalterGR 5y ago
How does one do that after having a hole cut in one’s chest? Pain-wise.
- b112 5y ago
  A guess, but a good belt of whisky, some asprin, and happiness at not being dead?
  - toyg 5y ago
    Adrenaline is a hell of a drug.
  - pmyteh 5y ago
    The BMJ report states that the onboard medical kit had local anaesthetic available (though it also states that "in the heat of the moment, neither I nor Dr Wong were able to calculate the percentage of lignocaine in it" and isn't entirely clear about whether they used it anyway or went in without). They did use a good belt of ("5 star") brandy, but for equipment sterilisation rather than pain control.
- chimprich 5y ago
  Presumably the patient had quite a high pain threshold, since she was already ignoring a broken arm and ribs in addition to the pneumothorax in order to make her flight.
  - philliphaydon 5y ago
    There isn't much you can do about broken ribs afaik? And the broken arm depends on the type of break. I split my humorous bone length ways. Initially because of adrenaline, it was absolutely painless, after an hour the pain kicked in. If I didn't move my arm it was fine but if I moved it, wow, 2nd most painful experience in my life.
    - nickjj 5y ago
      > If I didn't move my arm it was fine but if I moved it, wow, 2nd most painful experience in my life. Yeah it's interesting how this works. I once broke my collar bone (I tried jumping up a curb on my bike, the handle bars fell off and I went collar bone first into the edge of the curb). I ended up carrying my bike home in pieces for half a mile and remember it not being too bad. As long as I kept my arm at my side it didn't feel any different than normal but when I lifted up my arm it was one of the sharpest pains I've ever experienced. I only ended up having a hairline fracture too.
      - eCa 5y ago
        > As long as I kept my arm at my side it didn't feel any different As someone who watches bike racing, it is often immediately apparent when someone has broken their collarbone by the way they keep their arm.
    - CRConrad 5y ago
      > I split my humorous bone length ways So you're hilarious, now that you have an extra funny bone?
- marcodiego 5y ago
  The hole had lidocaine, a relatively good topic anesthetic. If don't move too much, the tube inside the chest doesn't causes too much pain. Actually, once the tube is inserted the feeling of relief and been able to breath normally is quite good. Disclaimer: I've had 3 spontaneous pneumathoraces.
  - WalterGR 5y ago
    lidocaine, a relatively good topic anesthetic. Sure… But a hole in one’s chest isn’t exactly topical, right? But what do I know? Can lidocaine be injected… sub… topically?
  - mbubb 5y ago
    > 3 spontaneous pneumathoraces… I remember from EMT school the informal advice that spontaneous pneumo is a predisposition for certain body types and something as trivial as a burp or hiccups can cause. Tall and thin body type. But this is anecdotal- is there an underlying cause in your case?
    - marcodiego 5y ago
      > spontaneous pneumo is a predisposition for certain body types Some medics said exactly this for me. This body type is called "franzino" in Brazil and is exactly how I was as a teenager. Strangely my pneumathoraces were not on the same side. On the left side it happened twice which was fixed with two clamps and a pleurodesis. On the right side it occurred only once but considering my predisposition, there's no reason to think it will never happen again.
      - gavinray 5y ago
        Jesus christ mate, human biology is fucked. Imagine walking around knowing your lungs could pop for essentially no good reason, at any moment.
- robbiep 5y ago
  It’s not comfortable (pleural rubbing of catheter) but analgesia requirements for a chest tube post insertion are pretty minimal
adastra22 5y ago
I’m not sure which one was more badass, the surgeon or the patient.

'the doctors successfully released the trapped air from the patient's chest, and she spent the rest of the flight uneventfully eating and watching in-flight movies'

nomilk 5y ago

It's so good it warrants standing applause.

WalterGR 5y ago

How does one do that after having a hole cut in one’s chest? Pain-wise.

b112 5y ago
A guess, but a good belt of whisky, some asprin, and happiness at not being dead?
- toyg 5y ago
  Adrenaline is a hell of a drug.
- pmyteh 5y ago
  The BMJ report states that the onboard medical kit had local anaesthetic available (though it also states that "in the heat of the moment, neither I nor Dr Wong were able to calculate the percentage of lignocaine in it" and isn't entirely clear about whether they used it anyway or went in without). They did use a good belt of ("5 star") brandy, but for equipment sterilisation rather than pain control.
chimprich 5y ago
Presumably the patient had quite a high pain threshold, since she was already ignoring a broken arm and ribs in addition to the pneumothorax in order to make her flight.
- philliphaydon 5y ago
  There isn't much you can do about broken ribs afaik? And the broken arm depends on the type of break. I split my humorous bone length ways. Initially because of adrenaline, it was absolutely painless, after an hour the pain kicked in. If I didn't move my arm it was fine but if I moved it, wow, 2nd most painful experience in my life.
  - nickjj 5y ago
    > If I didn't move my arm it was fine but if I moved it, wow, 2nd most painful experience in my life. Yeah it's interesting how this works. I once broke my collar bone (I tried jumping up a curb on my bike, the handle bars fell off and I went collar bone first into the edge of the curb). I ended up carrying my bike home in pieces for half a mile and remember it not being too bad. As long as I kept my arm at my side it didn't feel any different than normal but when I lifted up my arm it was one of the sharpest pains I've ever experienced. I only ended up having a hairline fracture too.
    - eCa 5y ago
      > As long as I kept my arm at my side it didn't feel any different As someone who watches bike racing, it is often immediately apparent when someone has broken their collarbone by the way they keep their arm.
  - CRConrad 5y ago
    > I split my humorous bone length ways So you're hilarious, now that you have an extra funny bone?
marcodiego 5y ago
The hole had lidocaine, a relatively good topic anesthetic. If don't move too much, the tube inside the chest doesn't causes too much pain. Actually, once the tube is inserted the feeling of relief and been able to breath normally is quite good. Disclaimer: I've had 3 spontaneous pneumathoraces.
- WalterGR 5y ago
  lidocaine, a relatively good topic anesthetic. Sure… But a hole in one’s chest isn’t exactly topical, right? But what do I know? Can lidocaine be injected… sub… topically?
- mbubb 5y ago
  > 3 spontaneous pneumathoraces… I remember from EMT school the informal advice that spontaneous pneumo is a predisposition for certain body types and something as trivial as a burp or hiccups can cause. Tall and thin body type. But this is anecdotal- is there an underlying cause in your case?
  - marcodiego 5y ago
    > spontaneous pneumo is a predisposition for certain body types Some medics said exactly this for me. This body type is called "franzino" in Brazil and is exactly how I was as a teenager. Strangely my pneumathoraces were not on the same side. On the left side it happened twice which was fixed with two clamps and a pleurodesis. On the right side it occurred only once but considering my predisposition, there's no reason to think it will never happen again.
    - gavinray 5y ago
      Jesus christ mate, human biology is fucked. Imagine walking around knowing your lungs could pop for essentially no good reason, at any moment.
robbiep 5y ago
It’s not comfortable (pleural rubbing of catheter) but analgesia requirements for a chest tube post insertion are pretty minimal

adastra22 5y ago

I’m not sure which one was more badass, the surgeon or the patient.