Big Cadavers

[USCguy]

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Preface: I really do appreciate that my cadaver decided to donate their body so that I may learn anatomy first hand. Giving up your remains is a great gift this person has given my group...


that being said, my group has the biggest cadaver in the lab. The cadaver is easily 280 or 300 lbs (told this by the professors and TA's). It is so frustrating to see the other tables with the emaciated cadavers or those that had a BMI of ~25 during life, with all their nicely defined muscles, etc. We have waded (literally!) through 5 inches of fat just to reach the trapezius, lats, etc. Every single muscle has fat that is integrated into it. I spent an hour today cutting the subcutaneous fat off the skin so that I could get closer to the back muscles without coming out with fat soaked through my lab coat, scrubs and underwear 👎


I'm sure this has been discussed every year since SDN was created, but I just had to B****.

 

[Ashers]

Ugh. My school limits donors to a max of 150lbs. My cadaver must've been <100 with no fat, but she dried out really quick.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Ugh. My school limits donors to a max of 150lbs. My cadaver must've been <100 with no fat, but she dried out really quick.

Wow that's a tight limit, and yes, the drying out's an issue with the thin ones. Our cadaver died of cancer, so he didn't have any fat, but we had to spend a lot of effort trying to keep him moist.

I think our school has a weight limit of something like no more than 50% overweight. Not sure exactly what that number would be or even what the means, but it still leaves you with some bigger cadavers. I've got to say that fat is sort of interesting to see, but I wouldn't want to deal with it. And, man, flipping a 350 lb. cadaver over! 😱

 

[veenut]

Preface: I really do appreciate that my cadaver decided to donate their body so that I may learn anatomy first hand. Giving up your remains is a great gift this person has given my group...


that being said, my group has the biggest cadaver in the lab. The cadaver is easily 280 or 300 lbs (told this by the professors and TA's). It is so frustrating to see the other tables with the emaciated cadavers or those that had a BMI of ~25 during life, with all their nicely defined muscles, etc. We have waded (literally!) through 5 inches of fat just to reach the trapezius, lats, etc. Every single muscle has fat that is integrated into it. I spent an hour today cutting the subcutaneous fat off the skin so that I could get closer to the back muscles without coming out with fat soaked through my lab coat, scrubs and underwear 👎


I'm sure this has been discussed every year since SDN was created, but I just had to B****.

At least he'll get lighter as the semester progresses.

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

Ewww. I'll make you even happier. The very large cadavers in our lab, by the end of the semester, had a rancid fat odor that was enough to knock you over. Truly nasty. My poor cadaver passed away from cancer also and had no body fat whatsoever - and I mean none - no fat even in the renal capsule. I truly hope my cadaver didn't suffer too much at the end of life, but I'd be lying if I told you that I envied people around me with greasy nasty gloves every day. So, you have my sympathy (with your appropriate caveats about being grateful to your tubby donor!).

 

[PeepshowJohnny]

I've been there my friend. Just got to grin and bear it. It gets easier when you go inside the body for thorax, abdomen, etc later.

 

[PBandJ]

Preface: I really do appreciate that my cadaver decided to donate their body so that I may learn anatomy first hand. Giving up your remains is a great gift this person has given my group...


that being said, my group has the biggest cadaver in the lab. The cadaver is easily 280 or 300 lbs (told this by the professors and TA's). It is so frustrating to see the other tables with the emaciated cadavers or those that had a BMI of ~25 during life, with all their nicely defined muscles, etc. We have waded (literally!) through 5 inches of fat just to reach the trapezius, lats, etc. Every single muscle has fat that is integrated into it. I spent an hour today cutting the subcutaneous fat off the skin so that I could get closer to the back muscles without coming out with fat soaked through my lab coat, scrubs and underwear 👎


I'm sure this has been discussed every year since SDN was created, but I just had to B****.

wow, i was about to post the exact same thing. i know EXACTLY how you feel. our cadaver is probably in the 250 range. we cut through about 2 inches of solid fat just to get through the back. i think it will get better as we go on. it's just going to be the worst for now. at least you can go around and see how others' cadavers look (and possibly prossected cadavers, if your school has those).

 

[tae1703]

Preface: I really do appreciate that my cadaver decided to donate their body so that I may learn anatomy first hand. Giving up your remains is a great gift this person has given my group...


that being said, my group has the biggest cadaver in the lab. The cadaver is easily 280 or 300 lbs (told this by the professors and TA's). It is so frustrating to see the other tables with the emaciated cadavers or those that had a BMI of ~25 during life, with all their nicely defined muscles, etc. We have waded (literally!) through 5 inches of fat just to reach the trapezius, lats, etc. Every single muscle has fat that is integrated into it. I spent an hour today cutting the subcutaneous fat off the skin so that I could get closer to the back muscles without coming out with fat soaked through my lab coat, scrubs and underwear 👎


I'm sure this has been discussed every year since SDN was created, but I just had to B****.

lol. i bet i know what table youre disecting on....mwa hahaha. you can always come and check out our butchered up cad

 

[notdeadyet]

On the upside, with the bigger cadavers, you have nice fat veins and such. With the paper-thin cadavers, finding any of that is a nightmare.

 

[Chulito]

Ugh. My school limits donors to a max of 150lbs. My cadaver must've been <100 with no fat, but she dried out really quick.

Wow, really? How many adults weigh less than 150 lbs, especially the guys? We have a lot of people in their eighties and nineties in my family, and I'm sure that none of the men weighs less than 165 lbs, and most weigh more than that. And they're not fat people, nor especially tall or muscled.

 

[pagemmapants]

We have waded (literally!) through 5 inches of fat just to reach the trapezius, lats, etc.

Unless you got on your galoshes and stepped inside said cadaver, you didn't literally wade through anything.

Sorry, pet peeve.

That said, I know your pain. While I had a nice 80 lb 86 year old man who died of pancreatic cancer (and had a really cool and ancient bile duct stent and no gall bladder), the table next to us had one of the 300 pounders. If it's the smell that bothers you the most, try putting VapoRub under your nose or (as gross as it sounds) chewing gum during lab. As far as the dissection process. . . well, sometimes "scraping" is easier than trying to actually dissect away the fat. At least it comes off pretty easily.

Good luck!

 

[doctorbob1312]

unlucky with that size of a cadaver...and i totally am feeling the drying out issue with our cadaver...but to the op...just wait until you get into the axilla, and brachial plexus...that will NOT be fun

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

unlucky with that size of a cadaver...and i totally am feeling the drying out issue with our cadaver...but to the op...just wait until you get into the axilla, and brachial plexus...that will NOT be fun

What a trip down memory lane. At our school, the cadaver lab is in the basement - and you go down there both semesters as an MS-I; first for Gross Anatomy, then second semester for Neuroscience lab. But, as an MS-II, with God as my witness, I will not so much as set foot in the basement for this entire year. You'll feel the same way I do when you're finished with it!

 

[maestro1625]

just wait til you hit the abdomen... the small intestines have been fun.

/no you can't see the mesentery thru the adipose.
//not yours!

 

[Concubine]

One of our cadavers had a very strange organ. We couldn't figure out what it was. It looked like a white balloon in the umbilical area. Ended up being a penis pump...But thats not the interesting thing. My lab partner actually smelled so bad that I got as close to the cadaver as possible just to cover up her smell. One of those hippy girls...

 

[humuhumu]

Unless you got on your galoshes and stepped inside said cadaver, you didn't literally wade through anything.

Sorry, pet peeve.

 

[MSKalltheway]

On the upside, with the bigger cadavers, you have nice fat veins and such. With the paper-thin cadavers, finding any of that is a nightmare.

Not only that, since everything is so big, youll have a REALLY hard time cutting too deep! When you have one too skinny, its really easy to accidentally go in too far with he knife, esp when you get to the abdomen. My cad must have been 200+ and I'm pretty glad, stayed quite juicy the whole 10 weeks 😀

 

[45408]

My only tip is that you try to cut off the outer layer in one pass. Don't cut the skin off and then scrape away fat from the muscle - try to use the skin to hold onto the fat and just cut between the muscle and fat.

Don't sweat it too much - the head/neck won't be any harder than the other groups, and the internal organs probably won't be any more difficult to examine. You might have more interesting pathologies to look at as well.

 

[abraxas20]

😳

Unless you got on your galoshes and stepped inside said cadaver, you didn't literally wade through anything.

True enough....but we have all been victims of spillover right? I am pretty sure I waded a little in my cadaver without coming near to standing on the table....blech

He was....um...husky...close to our 300 lb limit...ah how we all miss Larry.

 

[sanche60]

Preface: I really do appreciate that my cadaver decided to donate their body so that I may learn anatomy first hand. Giving up your remains is a great gift this person has given my group...


that being said, my group has the biggest cadaver in the lab. The cadaver is easily 280 or 300 lbs (told this by the professors and TA's). It is so frustrating to see the other tables with the emaciated cadavers or those that had a BMI of ~25 during life, with all their nicely defined muscles, etc. We have waded (literally!) through 5 inches of fat just to reach the trapezius, lats, etc. Every single muscle has fat that is integrated into it. I spent an hour today cutting the subcutaneous fat off the skin so that I could get closer to the back muscles without coming out with fat soaked through my lab coat, scrubs and underwear 👎


I'm sure this has been discussed every year since SDN was created, but I just had to B****.

I know the feeling. mine was probably 220ish last year. dont listen to what other people say, it sucks all year to have a fat body. We were constantly swimming in fat. I did get really good with that damn probe though.

 

[ekimsurfer]

I once had a cadaver that was about 280 lbs. His campers was sooo thick. When we would cover him up it was like putting a fat suit back on him. At least we got to see all the layers. We also had another cadaver who had a rather large member. It was pretty freakish/abnormal, but we appreciated it when we got to pelvis and perineum. I'm thankful for those people...I learned my anatomy.