Summary

Source CONUS Archive
Record ID 7329
Story Slug ELECTROSCOPE VNR (10/22/1997)
Location Boulder, CO
Format Pkg/NoTag/Vonat
Date 10/22/1997
Archive Time 34:11
TRT 2:19
Supers :01 Trudy Hamilton, RN, Laparoscopic Surgery Patient :47 Dr James Daniell, Clinical Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology :00 David Winter, Reporting
Video Description Sot, shots of Trudy, shots of surgery, burning tissue, electrical sparking causing a tissue burn, doctor walking into office, sot, more burning tissue, shots of Electroshield System, doctor looking through microscope, sot, shots of Trudy, sot, shots of Trudy
Script LEAD: Surgeons are finding that an increasingly popular method of surgery, especially for women, can be dangerous if certain safety precautions are not followed As David Winter reports, there is a way for your surgeon to make it safer SCRIPT: (Trudy SOT: I've gone through something that a lot of people don't survive) ROUTINE EXPLORATORY SURGERY NEARLY TURNED TRAGIC FOR TRUDY HAMILTON SHE'S AN OPERATING ROOM NURSE WHO FOUND HERSELF ON THE OTHER END OF THE KNIFE SHE UNDERWENT LAPAROSCOPIC SURGERY, ALSO KNOWN AS KEYHOLE OR BAND-AID SURGERY IT'S BECOMING INCREASINGLY POPULAR DOCTORS PERFORM PROCEDURES THROUGH SMALL INCISIONS USING TINY CAMERAS AND INSTRUMENTS THIS USUALLY MEANS LESS SCARRING, REDUCED COST AND FASTER RECOVERY THAN TRADITIONAL SURGERY BUT THERE ARE RISKS THE INSTRUMENT UTILIZED DURING MOST MINIMALLY INVASIVE SURGERY TO CUT TISSUE USED ELECTRICITY BUT STRAY ELECTRICAL ENERGY CAN CAUSE SERIOUS DAMAGE IF IT GOES UNDETECTED THIS CAN LEAD TO POTENTIALLY FATAL INFECTIONS (Daneill SOT: Patients really look at laparoscopic surgery as simple, safe, outpatient surgery and many of them don't realize that it is very, very complicated) MORE THAN HALF OF DOCTORS SURVEYED BY THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF SURGEONS SAID THAT THEY HAD PERSONALLY EXPERIENCED OR KNEW OF DOCTORS WHO HAD EXPERIENCED, STRAY ENERGY COMPLICATIONS THERE IS A WAY TO PROTECT PATIENTS THOUGH, SO INJURIES WON'T GO UNNOTICED AND UNTREATED (Daniell SOT: This technology is called Active Electrode Monitoring And in my opinion, is mandatory for use whenever one is using unipolarr cautery laparoscopy) IF ACTIVE ELECTRODE MONITORING WERE MANDATORY, TRUDY'S COMPLICATIONS MIGHT HAVE BEEN AVOIDED (Hamilton SOT: Why did I have to go through what I went through? Why did my children have to go through what they went through? Does the physician know about the safety equipment? Is he using the safety equipment on his patients?) DOCTOR DANIELL SAYS IT'S THE FIRST QUESTION YOU SHOULD ASK YOU SHOULD ALSO ASK HOW MANY LAPAROSCOPIC PROCFEDURES YOUR DOCTOR HAS PERFORMED HAS HE OR SHE COMPLETED TRAINING IN THE POTENTIAL ELECTRICAL BURN COMPLICATIONS OF LAPAROSCOPIC SURGERY ALSO, BEFORE UNDERGOING LAPAROSCOPY, MAKE SURE YOUR DOCTOR INFORMS YOU OF POSSIBLE COMPLICATIONS WHICH MIGHT ARISE IT TOOK SUBSEQUENT HOSPITAL STAYS TO CORRECT THE DAMAGE DONE TO TRUDY HAMILTON BY STRAY ENERGY AND MORE SURGERY MAY BE NECESSARY SHE HOPES OTHERS WILL LEARN FROM HER UNFORTUNATE SITUATION SO THEY WON'T HAVE TO SUFFER AS WELL IN LOS ANGELES, THIS IS DAVID WINTER REPORTING
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