First day of anatomy lab and my finger got sliced open. Great.

[shiraz84]

Yesterday was the first day of classes here at OSU. Everything went pretty well, except for one thing - one of my lab partners sliced my finger open with a scalpel.

Ironically, we had a lecture on infectious disease right after lab. I assumed that the preservation process kills most of the viruses/bacteria present in the cadaver, but I went to student health services anyway. The doctor who saw me told me the biggest risk was of tetanus (not really an issue since I had a booster not too long ago). She told me that almost all viruses/bacteria don't survive. She did mention one specific type of virus that survives, but said that it is only present in brain tissue (we only dissected the back).

The cut is pretty superficial, although it did bleed a little. I washed it off with soap and water, dried it off, and applied antibacterial cream. However, part of me is still paranoid. Should I be worried about anything? Anyone heard of anything like this leading to something serious?

If getting cut by something that touched a cadaver causes me this much paranoia, I can't imagine if I ever get cut by something that's been in contact with a live patient. 😱

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[synapse lapse]

Yeah she was probably talking about CJD (Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease a.k.a. mad cow disease in people). It is a prion disease and will not be destroyed by the preservation process. I wouldn't stress it, its an extremely rare disease , only present in neuro and spinal tissue (there was one case of someone who contracted it from a transplanted cornea, and even a couple of neurosurgeons whom have contracted it since the autoclave is not hot enough to destroy it apparently) [I read a whole book about it called "deadly feasts"]Anyhow, you almost definitely won't get anything serious from your cadaver. My dad asked if I could get infected in Anatomy, I told him that I'd be working in hospitals my entire life, I am sure there are plenty of opportunities there to get infected. Hope your finger is ok!

 

[Supercluster]

Sorry to hear about your injury! One more thing that will hopefully put your mind a bit more at ease--it is standard procedure for them to test the bodies dissected in anatomy lab for a ton of diseases, so concerns about HIV, Hepatitis, etc should be pretty much put to rest. As for something super rare, the odds are low so let's just hope that all is good. I would try not to worry too much, you were responsible about it and did all you could to prevent disease transmission. Someone in my class got sliced the other day, although I'm pretty sure she was cut while putting on a fresh blade so I guess that is a bit more sanitary. It's just an unfortunate error and I'm sorry it happened to you! Hope lab goes better next time!

 

[UCSBMed1]

Yesterday was the first day of classes here at OSU. Everything went pretty well, except for one thing - one of my lab partners sliced my finger open with a scalpel.

Ironically, we had a lecture on infectious disease right after lab. I assumed that the preservation process kills most of the viruses/bacteria present in the cadaver, but I went to student health services anyway. The doctor who saw me told me the biggest risk was of tetanus (not really an issue since I had a booster not too long ago). She told me that almost all viruses/bacteria don't survive. She did mention one specific type of virus that survives, but said that it is only present in brain tissue (we only dissected the back).

The cut is pretty superficial, although it did bleed a little. I washed it off with soap and water, dried it off, and applied antibacterial cream. However, part of me is still paranoid. Should I be worried about anything? Anyone heard of anything like this leading to something serious?

If getting cut by something that touched a cadaver causes me this much paranoia, I can't imagine if I ever get cut by something that's been in contact with a live patient. 😱

A bunch of med students sure wouldn't know more than a doctor, and you said yourself the doctor said you should be fine.

Don't sweat it, bro. 😀

 

[Psycho Doctor]

sounds like anatomy lab gets you one way or another. i'm not really looking forward to this after reading just a few posts about it today

 

[ddmo]

I got perineal adipose juice flung into my mouth once..... now that was DISGUSTING. So keep your mouths closed while your head is positioned between the legs people.

 

[OTheHorror]

I got perineal adipose juice flung into my mouth once..... now that was DISGUSTING. So keep your mouths closed while your head is positioned between the legs people.

haha...that is absolutley disgusting...anatomy is absolutely disgusting, really...

😀

 

[synapse lapse]

juice in the mouth, man that sucks! They showed us this hilarious video of our instructors posing as med students and proper lab procedure, and how to turn your face sideways when raising and lowering the cadaver, it was pretty funny. I must say I am really enjoying Anatomy, it's an amazing opportuinty we have to study in such detail.

 

[Smurfette]

when i was a student i got stabbed with a scalpel in anatomy lab. Bodies are tested for hepatitis, HIV, etc. and anything contagious that would be harmful, so don't worry about that. Prion diseases (like CJD mentioned by another poster) are the only thing there is a realistic risk of, and the odds are LOW LOW LOW of that. Hopefully you have sensation back to the area you were sliced (formaldehyde can cause some local tissue fixation).

And wait until rotations or residency....There's a whole lot more disgusting stuff to get stabbed with/flung at you/in your mouth/in your eye/up your nose/sprayed at you. There's many types of body fluids and combinations thereof that I could share exposure stories about. Things to look forward to!

 

[closertofine]

yeah, several accidental scalpel injuries here (all self-inflicted, though!), and I'm fine...though still no less of a klutz when it comes to knives 😳

 

[synapse lapse]

yeah, several accidental scalpel injuries here (all self-inflicted, though!), and I'm fine...though still no less of a klutz when it comes to knives 😳

Atleast you think you're fine, until amyloid plaques start silently forming in your brain, you begin to shake uncontrolably, massive neurodegeneration onsets, and you suddenly die 😱 just kidding 😀

 

[erin682]

Well I have to say having been stabbed by a scalpel and stabbing someone with a scalpel, it definately sucks worse to be the stabber. I got harrassed about that the rest of the semester. Definately not gonna be a surgeon. Oh and nothing every happened bad as a result of getting stabbed. One of my friends though got juice from a popped ovarian cyst in her eye. That was gross. No eye long term eye problems though just stinging and stuff.

 

[DrThom]

We've been taking anatomy here for about 4 weeks now and I've:

-got cadaver juice squirt in my eye
-cut myself on a rib after we exposed the thorax
-broke a scalpel blade off while putting in a drain to get all the thorax juice out of the cavity (Still have yet to find it too)
-got omentum in my hair

You develop a thick skin for stuff like that after awhile.