May 20th- Day 13

Today I woke up early and drove through the sleepy town of Andover as I made my way over to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Orthopedic Surgical Center. I watched two ACL repairs, so the surgeries were not much different from the types of surgeries I've been watching in Gilford, but it's always great to see how different surgeons work and the different techniques they use. Today I was with Dr. Ames, the Athletic Trainer, Molly McNeil, and the rest of their surgical team! The first patient's MRI was inconclusive but there was a possibility of a torn ACL. Once we were able to get inside her knee we discovered a partial thickness tear that was rubbing against the head of the femur which was creating the pinching the patient was feeling. We also discovered the patient had grade three arthritis which was causing most of her pain in the joint. Since it was only a partial thickness tear, Dr. Ames decided to just do a debridement of the knee to alleviate some of the pinching the patient was feeling. The next patient tore his ACL quite a while ago and recently decided to get an allograft (a graft from a cadaver). Dr. Ames decided to use an Achilles' tendon, which I was able to watch the tendon be prepped. It had to be cut down to the correct size and it had to be sutured on both sides. The Achilles' tendon was a cool tendon to see because of the shape and size of it. It was really cool seeing my first allograft today but if I had to choose between which procedure to watch in the future I think I would choose the autograft because I am able to watch that be harvested right then and there. Overall it was a great day at Dartmouth-Hitchcock, the OR was very different from both Concord and LRGH, and it was an awesome opportunity to meet more medical professionals in the field of orthopedics!