The Head Position

Immediately after surgery under anesthesia, the patient cannot move on its own and has to be lifted from the Operation Theatre (OT) table on to the shifting trolley to carry him to the ward.

The anesthetist who is standing at the head of the patient usually supports and lifts the head, the OT assistant or ward boys stand at the two sides of the patient and lift the body and trunk. The surgeon usually lifts the feet and legs of the patient. All working together smoothly transfer the patient from the OT table to the shifting trolley.

The new junior resident in the surgery department asked Dr. Jolting, “Sir, whenever we shift the patient after surgery from the OT table to the shifting trolley, the anesthetist always holds the patient’s head and we hold the patient’s legs and feet. What is the reason?”

Dr. Jolting replied the answer lies in Indian mythology. When the Devs (Indian Gods) and Asuras (Indian demons) decided to churn the ocean to produce the Amrit (Indian nectar), the snake Vasuki was used as the churning rope. The Demons demanded to hold the head end of Vasuki leaving the Gods to hold the tail end. Since that time the anesthetist has held the head of the patient and the surgeons hold the legs.

A tableau depicting the Churning of the Ocean with the Demons near the Snake Head and Gods near the Tail

Just joking: The anesthetist plays a very important role in the safe conduct of any operation and deserves the respect of the highest order.

(Based on allegedly true incident)

— ND
© Author. All rights reserved. 
If viewing from Mobile, switch to Webpage view to see a list of popular posts and index of topics of previous posts.
 DISCLAIMER: This article is intended only for fun purpose. The author does not promote or recommend any behavior illustrated here or claim it to be useful. Use of the information herein is at you one's own risk. Before trying to emulate or follow anything the reader is well advised to take into account ethical, moral, legal and other considerations. The author recommends that Medical Practice should be of the highest ethical and moral level keeping in mind the interest of the patient as foremost. 

DISCLAIMER: This article is intended only for fun purpose. The author does not promote or recommend any behavior illustrated here or claim it to be useful. Use of the information herein is at you one's own risk. Before trying to emulate or follow anything the reader is well advised to take into account ethical, moral, legal and other considerations. The author recommends that Medical Education should be of the highest ethical and moral level keeping in mind the interest of the patient as foremost and according to MCI and other Board’s norm. 

You can share this post on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google +, etc, using the Buttons above 'Labels' and below 'Posted by:'.
Please give your valuable feedback via comments below. Please note that comments will appear after moderation.

You can receive a notification on latest post by subscribing via clicking on the bottom of the page on the Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)