Quote:
Originally Posted by Jandrews
Wow, Moses....can you tell us how that happens? Two separate needle sticks from infected people...wow!
JA
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I trained in New York (Brooklyn) and 10-15% of our patients were HIV+ (No treatment at that time). Needlestick injuries are really common. Generally from working too fast, having a bad assistant or poor technique. Both injuries were my fault.
The first was a car accident victim with massive internal bleeding. I was throwing stitches as fast as I could. The suction just couldn't keep up. I was using the first two fingers of my left hand to compress and retract and throwing sutures between my fingers. I stuck myself.
Similar situation the second time. Severe hemorrhage during a Cesarean. I'm more careful these days. Believe it of not, there are a lot of surgeons who have bloody index fingers after most of their operations. They either use their left index as a pin cushion or routinely grab surgical needles with their fingers rather than instruments. Bad technique. A friend of mine died during his final year of training at our hospital. He was a year ahead of me. He died from AIDS acquired during surgery. He was a wonderful man, but a sloppy surgeon.