Spotlight: The Paediatric Operating Room

Drs. Khaled Almansoori and Neil Saran (Paediatric Orthopaedic Surgeons) work together to correct a young patient's club foot

Every single person in the paediatric operating room serves a vital function, and no member of the team can perform their role without the entire team working as a cohesive unit. In the OR, the paediatric anesthetists, Drs. Florian Rudolph and Liz Hoeppner, help drift the child off to sleep, then diligently monitor vital signs and depth of anesthesia until the completion of the surgery. Our Paediatric OR Nurses, Gillian Kent, Amy Rausch, and Alyssa Wilkie will either scrub or circulate during a procedure. Scrub nurses deal with set up and organization of the OR, and act as the surgeon's right hand by providing instruments or supplies in a blink of an eye. Circulating nurses work outside of the sterile field, studiously recording every detail in the patient's chart, as well as monitoring and overseeing the patient and all members of the OR team. Surgeons, of course, carefully craft an operative plan and perform the operations on these tiny limbs. This week in the paediatric OR, Drs. Marc Moreau, Khaled Almansoori, and Neil Saran will perform various procedures to correct musculoskeletal deformities, restoring optimal function, and providing children the chance to “be like all of the other kids”.

Dr. Jance McGale (Orthopaedic Resident) concentrates on exposing the relevant anatomical structures

The patient ready for surgery with a neatly organized tray of instruments within reach

Dr. Marc Moreau (Paediatric Orthopaedic Surgeon) joins fellow surgeons to share his expertise

Amy Rausch (Paedia-tric O.R. Nurse), Drs. Liz Hoeppner and Florian Rudolph (Paediatric Anesthe-tists) discussing an upcoming surgery

Alyssa Wilkie (Paediatric O.R. Nurse) setting up the back table for the surgical procedure

Gillian Kent (Paediatric O.R. Nurse) circulating during a procedure opening sterile gloves using aseptic technique