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LID

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hey everyone, wondering if any of you has ever had a problem with feeling a little faint when watching a procedure, surgery, etc. I never had a problem until a week or so ago...maybe it could be due to my lovely coat being totally polyester combined with a hot clinic room...but it was embarassing. I am only a second year, so also maybe I have not been desensitized yet since I am just starting more clinical stuff. Whatever, the cause I am wondering if anyone has any tips on getting over it!

Thanks!

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I once got pretty weak and unsteady on my feet in the OR. Was it the procedure? Hardly... it was a simple portacath insertion. The problem? The last meal I ate was like 16 hours prior to the surgery, and I was nearly dehydrated. We were so busy from trauma stuff and from being on call the night before that I had nothing to eat or drink in a long time.

So, before you start blaming it on a procedure, make sure you're well fed and well hydrated. Hypoglycemia and/or dehydration can make you feel faint and possibly even pass out in the middle of standing up for prolonged times (like what would occur in, oh, say, an OR maybe).
 
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I think a lot of people have gotten a little lightheaded on one occasion or the other. Sometimes, it is that you are too hot or it's too stuffy and others you are getting sick or haven't eaten. My Mom has been an ER nurse and worked in trauma centers for 25 years but she still gets a little nauseated or funny feeling with certain fractures when bone grates against bone. It is the only thing that really bothers her and who knows why because she's seen it all a hundred times but it just bother her. She also swears that males patients have a hard time with certain cuts on their hands and are more likely to pass out. She said she has had patients come in after blowing their arm off with fireworks or dynamite and they don't pass out but a freely bleeding cut (even fairly small) on the hand and you better watch out. She also swears that redheads bleed more when they are giving birth and that there are more crazy people in the ER on a full moon.
 
The reaction you're describing is likely more common than not having any nauseated feelings at all. Matter of fact, we've had several threads dealing with this issue in the past (see old threads in the Surgery Forums); some with good tips on avoiding the sensation. In general, these tips included:

make sure you are well fed and hydrated (as mentioned above)

don't lock your knees when standing in the OR, at the bedside, etc.

keep cool - nothing makes you start sweating faster than wearing layers and layers of clothes, especially when you're nervous and in an over-heated room


Best of luck and remember for most of us, the sensation passes...
 
All good tips above....I've actually only had to sit down once, while watching a bloodless, scalpelless, outpatient vasectomy. Here is what I recommend....low temps, full stomach. I get queasy if I haven't eaten for hours especially when it is hot in the room. On the plus side, I've never had a problem after that first one....been through surgeries, traumas, deliveries...you name it and now I'm going into EM. Don't worry, you'll get over it.
 
When I was an MS3, doing my OB core, there was this old, old surgeon (retired right at the end of the year). I only had two surgeries with him. These two times were the only two times I was in surgery with this one chief resident. Twice, she passed out and I had to finish - all thumbs me, and this old guy - because she was hypoglycemic. Karmic, in some way.
 

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