As usual today, as soon as the outpatient abortion room is called, I immediately leave for it! The first few operations were relatively smooth, and I kept running like a machine. However, a young girl came in and instantly caught my eye. She was wearing heavy makeup, red lips, and curved eyebrows. She was quite stylish and beautiful. , I thought she was a modern girl in her twenties or thirties, but when she turned over the medical records, she was only 17 years old, and she immediately paid more attention to her!
The nurse immediately greeted her to lie down on the operating table, and I hurriedly prepared to put an ECG monitor on her. When I asked her to stretch out her finger to clip the oxygen saturation probe, she was instantly speechless. All fingers have been manicured, the long nails are coated with thick nail polish, and broken diamonds are set on them. How can this be done? I found a finger with a relatively thin fingernail and could sense it, but the result is conceivable, there is no signal of oxygen saturation at all, how can anesthesia be on without oxygen saturation.
I had no choice but to say to the patient: “Sister, you only have to cut the nail of your index finger, and you have to scrape off the nail polish and drill, otherwise the monitor will not collect When the oxygen saturation is reached, I can’t be anesthetized, and you have to wipe off your lipstick!” Although the patient was not very happy, he still had to reluctantly give up! Sure enough, after the treatment, I clipped the oxygen saturation probe, and the number appeared in an instant. My heart was at ease, and the operation went smoothly!
(Photographer: Gao Chun, Rongchang District Maternal and Child Health Hospital)
This case reminds me of a more bizarre patient I met when I first started work, a middle-aged woman in her forties and fifties who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy. I was stunned when I came in, my face was covered in thick powder, and my bright red lips made my complexion even paler.
I couldn’t help but ask how she put on such heavy makeup? She said that she was afraid of dying on the operating table, and she had to die beautifully! I was shocked, this operation is not big, it is so exaggerated to say that if you die, you will die! At that time, I didn’t expect to let her remove her makeup. After seeing the case, I was directly anesthetized. After the anesthesia was induced, the mask was covered with a layer of white powder, and some lipstick and mascara were mixed in. I still have a fresh memory!
Then the question is, everyone has a love for beauty. Is it okay to have surgery? The anesthesiologist tells you: No! As for why? Let me take it slow…
The job of an anesthesiologist is not something that people often say is done with one injection. There is a saying that “a surgeon treats a disease, an anesthesiologist saves a life”! How to save life? The anesthesiologist will visit the patient before the operation, understand the patient’s preoperative condition, and give advice in a timely manner if any problem is found, so as to allow the patient to undergo the operation in the best condition.
Then the most critical situation in the operation is coming. What is the anesthesiologist doing in the operating room after the legendary injection? just left? Or sit around and play? Of course not! In addition to completing the relevant anesthesia documents, the most important thing is to always pay attention to the data of the ECG monitor and understand the changes of the patient’s vital signs. Of course, it is not enough to just stare at the ECG monitor, but also pay attention to the patient’s complexion. , lip color, blood volume, urine volume, etc.
How to observe the complexion and lip color if the makeup is heavy? Even a thick manicure oxygen saturation probe can’t monitor the data, how can you always know the oxygenation status of the patient. Only by constantly synthesizing various information and understanding the current situation of the patient can an anesthesiologist make a correct judgment, thereby ensuring the safety of the patient’s life.
To sum up, fellow judges, do you think it is possible to wear makeup during surgery? And for us anesthesiologists, your most beautiful appearance is your makeup!
(Author: Gao Chun, Department of Anesthesiology, Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Rongchang District, Chongqing)