The flu is underestimated. It often gets compared with the common cold, a nuisance. But influenza can be a life-threatening or fatal disease, and H1N1 threatens to be that dangerous. At the very least, it's a wickedly symptomatic disease that lands healthy patients in bed with debilitating myalgias. And even healthy patients can't avoid risk; in fact, H1N1 seems to cause the worst pulmonary reactions in young and healthy patients, especially pregnant women. We have had a few cases of influenza in the ICU with patients on extensive life-support, and it's really eye-opening.
In any case, pediatric anesthesia in wintertime means cases are occasionally cancelled for the child with a fever, cough, and sniffles. While I often tolerate minor or improving symptoms, I do cancel cases for the child whose airway is hyperreactive from a respiratory virus. For elective cases, we just don't want to take any risk with children. A single experience with severe laryngospasm is all that's necessary to teach us to respect the sick child and anesthesia.
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In ancient Greece, the asclepion was a healing temple dedicated to Asclepius, the God of Medicine. Asclepius learned the art of surgery from the centaur Chiron and had the ability to raise the dead. The Rod of Asclepius is a roughhewn branch entwined with a single serpent.
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Hi! I am Craig Chen, a third year resident physician in anesthesiology at Stanford Hospitals and Clinics. I went to medical school at the University of California, San Francisco. Prior to medical school, I studied philosophy and biology at Stanford University, along with a minor in creative writing.
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