Trip to dentist leaves Edmonton girl, 4, brain damaged, in pain

[rain_e]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmont...pain-1.3797170



https://www.gofundme.com/2s42puk

[Jordan!]

Horrible..

[Ducay]

Terribly sad, but side-effects and complications are going to occur. It is a sad cost of the marvels of modern medicine.
The fact the guy is both a dental surgeon and anaesthesiologist leads me to believe he knew what he was doing.

[sixpacked]

Originally Posted by Ducay

Terribly sad, but side-effects and complications are going to occur. It is a sad cost of the marvels of modern medicine.
The fact the guy is both a dental surgeon and anaesthesiologist leads me to believe he knew what he was doing.

But should he be doing both tasks during the same procedure??

[peter12]

Originally Posted by sixpacked

But should he be doing both tasks during the same procedure??

I don't know. I'm not an anaestheologist.

[Ruttiger]

Good God what an awful thing to have happen.

[Regulator75]

Poor girl.

[Jeff Lebowski]

The article states:

A sign at Dr. William Mather's office identifies him as a dental surgeon and anesthesiologist. The Alberta Dental Association and College lists Mather as a general dentist. (Janice Johnston/CBC News )

Obviously all the facts have to be weighed but medical errors do happen, even with specialists.

Just tragic for that girl and family. Horrible to have to deal with.

[NuclearFart]

Originally Posted by Ducay

Terribly sad, but side-effects and complications are going to occur. It is a sad cost of the marvels of modern medicine.
The fact the guy is both a dental surgeon and anaesthesiologist leads me to believe he knew what he was doing.

I see it says "anaesthesiologist" on his name plate, but he's probably overstepping his abilities in giving himself that title, at least based on the same standards applied to an MD.

There's obviously some he said/she said going on here, but I've never known a real anaesthesiologist who would be so cavalier in the presented situation. It also seems ludicrous to me that you would simultaneous manage a patients airway/general aesthetic and perform the surgery at the same time, all while outside of a hospital setting on top of that.

[Erick Estrada]

I don't like how he downplayed the seriousness of the situation to the father while the daughter was near death. Sounds like this dentist may have been a little cavalier with his approach to anesthesia.

[llwhiteoutll]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I don't like how he downplayed the seriousness of the situation to the father while the daughter was near death. Sounds like this dentist may have been a little cavalier with his approach to anesthesia.

I'm your opinion, how should he have interacted with the father?

If he had coming running out of the room screaming and losing his ####, all you do is rile up everyone else up and you end up with a bunch of people freaking out. None of which is conducive to the response required during an emergency

[Dentoman]

There are 2-3 year post graduate programs for dental anaesthesia that would allow for the use of general anaesthetic by a dentist. The dentist did have those qualifications.

[Fuzz]

How do you not even have a HR/O2 sensor on when you sedate someone? That seams like negligence. Lazy?

[Robo]

Omg this is just heartbreaking

[cracher]

Originally Posted by Dentoman

There are 2-3 year post graduate programs for dental anaesthesia that would allow for the use of general anaesthetic by a dentist. The dentist did have those qualifications.

Do you know any more about the scope of practice for a dental anesthesiologist? I'm confused with the term "general anesthesia" in the article. Are we talking about full neuromuscular blockade, intubated, pushing propofol into a line? Or is the word "general" referring to something else?

[Dentoman]

Originally Posted by cracher

Do you know any more about the scope of practice for a dental anesthesiologist? I'm confused with the term "general anesthesia" in the article. Are we talking about full neuromuscular blockade, intubated, pushing propofol into a line?

I believe it includes all of the above, but I cannot say for sure. There are no dental anesthetists in Calgary so I have not had any direct interaction with one outside of dental school ... which is a long time ago.

Here is some info from the U of T's program:

Extensive training is provided in the clinical application of anaesthesia as it relates to dental treatment. Individual instruction in anaesthetic techniques for dental care is provided within the Faculty's outpatient anaesthetic suite. A wide range of anaesthetic techniques is utilized, including conscious sedation, deep sedation and general anaesthesia.

A large portion of the resident's clinical anaesthesia training is provided through hospital rotations. This extended clinical program is provided at both the adult care (eight months) and paediatric (six months) teaching hospitals affiliated with The University of Toronto. Two months are also spent in medicine rotations in affiliated hospitals.

Course work includes: anatomy, clinical epidemiology and biostatistics, seminars in oral biology, clinical conferences, weekly in-service rounds, a weekly journal review course, seminars in anaesthesia for dental procedures, and seminars in anaesthesia for medical procedures (in conjunction with Faculty of Medicine, Department of Anaesthesia).

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by Ducay

Terribly sad, but side-effects and complications are going to occur. It is a sad cost of the marvels of modern medicine.
The fact the guy is both a dental surgeon and anaesthesiologist leads me to believe he knew what he was doing.

The article doesn't quite come out and say it, but it's clearly suggesting that this was more than the cost of the marvels of modern medicine. The dangers with eating before going under is that you can choke on the food, and the article skirts around that issue.

Around 8:15 a.m. on that Wednesday Amber ate a piece of bread with butter and a half cup of milk, according to her mother, Arsh Athwal. Then the girl's father drove her to Mather's office for the 9:30 a.m. appointment.

Singh said Mather told them he could do the surgery later that morning.

Amber's mother wrote in an online post: "He asked if my daughter Amber had anything to eat today and my husband told the specialist that she had breakfast. However, he said it's OK and carried on. He used general anesthetic for this procedure.
...
Ontario pediatric dentist Dr. Keith Morley is the past president of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. He told CBC News the standard rule is no eating or drinking after midnight for a patient who is going to receive a general anesthetic.

http://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-proc...e/ppc-20163591

General anesthesia relaxes the muscles in your digestive tract and airway that keep food and acid from passing from your stomach into your lungs. Always follow your doctor's instructions about avoiding food and drink before surgery.

Fasting is usually necessary starting about six hours before your surgery. You may be able to drink clear fluids until a few hours prior.

[activeStick]

At such a young age, with her entire life ahead of her. So tragic.

[Lil Pedro]

Man this is horrible, feel awful for that little girl who won't get a chance to do anything.

[Sainters7]

Seeing how energetic she was makes it extra painful. Was especially tough to read about how the 2 year old doesn't understand what's happened to her big sis, and cries whenever she sees her now. Can't even imagine that pain the family is going through.