Clinicals

Clinicals have been very busy lately. I am getting lots of experience and learning many different exams. I am getting very used to running the scanner and working independently. I have been able to do exams from start to finish with minimal help. The different protocols in CT are still very hard to learn. Every doctor has a different protocol and every exam has a specific way that it has to be done. I have been seeing lots of extremity work and countless sinuses. I have been enjoying all of it. Recently, I saw an interesting abdomen/pelvis with contrast case. The patient was female in her 60's with several health problems. The patients kidneys did not pick up any contrast during the exam. It seemed strange that the kidneys would be completely void of contrast. I then noticed that the patient had an additional functioning kidney in her RLQ. This kidney was full of contrast and seemed to be the only functioning kidney the patient had. I was unable to find out the specifics of her case. I do not know if the patient just had an extra kidney from birth, or if she had a kidney transplant with her existing kidneys remaining. It was very interesting and I was surprised to see an extra kidney inside a patient.

Stellate Ganglion

I have been doing several pain injections during clinical. In addition to SI joint injections, I have been doing some Stellate Ganglion injections. A Stellate Ganglion Injection is an injection of local anesthetic in the "sympathetic nerve tissue." These nerves are located in the neck, bilaterally around C6-C7. The purpose of these injections are to reduce pain, swelling, and sweating changes in the upper extremity and to improve mobility. These injections are usually done as a series with up to 10 injections per patient. The patient that I have been working with is experiencing pain in her left arm/elbow after her arm was smashed in a car door. This procedure is set up like most pain injections and the local anesthetic is injected directly into the patient’s neck. The patient has to stay very still once we scan the first series of images so that the doctor will be in the correct area. Occasionally the doctor will inject contrast to track the path of the medicine. This procedure looks very uncomfortable and sometimes the patient has to be sedated.