Pre-Op Clinic

Today the entire team converged on Obras Sociales del Hermano Pedro and unpacked all the surgical and anesthesia supplies. We then operated a surgical pre-op clinic to determine who was best suited for the surgeries we are capable of performing (gynecologic and general this week). Most patients spoke Spanish so one interpreter was sufficient. In several cases, however, the patients spoke a native dialect. So a conversation went something like this:

Me: Have you ever had surgery or anesthesia before?

Spanish interpreter: (in Spanish, to the native dialect interpreter) Have you ever had surgery or anesthesia before?

Native dialect interpreter: (in Kaqchikel or K’iche; I can't tell the two apart; to the patient) Have you ever had surgery or anesthesia before?

Patient: Usually responds with a long-winded account.

Native dialect interpreter: (in Spanish to the Spanish interpreter) She has had two children in the past.

Spanish interpreter: (in English to me) She has had two children in the past.

Me: So have you ever had surgery or anesthesia before?

Spanish interpreter: (in Spanish, to the native dialect interpreter) Ask her if she's ever had surgery or anesthesia before

Native dialect interpreter: (in Kaqchikel or K’iche; to the patient) Have you ever had surgery or anesthesia before?

Patient: Might respond with yes or no. Might give another account.

Native dialect interpreter: (in Spanish to the Spanish interpreter) no.

Spanish interpreter: (in English, to me) No.

And that is just one question. Needless to say it was a painstaking process to elicit a history with the language barrier and even more difficult to describe their anesthetic options to them. You have to wonder how much of what I said was interpreted in a way the patient could understand!

We have a very packed OR schedule this week and it will surprise me if we get through all the cases that have been scheduled. We have several pediatric cases, mostly hernia repairs. Then we have a bunch of hysterectomies, gallbladders, and a few lipoma resections.

I will post a few shots from our happy hour this afternoon in another post. And then I'm off to bed to rest for a busy day tomorrow!