David Beigler, MD

6/9/2008  – If you’ve ever broken a bone, you know how painful the experience can be. But your pain is tempered somewhat knowing that you have an experienced orthopaedic surgeon and a talented team of operating room (OR) nurses and scrub technicians all playing a vital role in your recovery.

Surgeons use care, precision, skill and technique to repair broken bones. OR personnel also must learn surgical techniques and use innovative technology to provide quality care to orthopaedic trauma patients.

Such was the case during a recent educational training seminar held at the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel & Convention Center. David Beigler, MD, FAAOS, FACS, Trauma Section Head – Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at NorthShore University HealthSystem, was the seminar’s primary facilitator.

The event was designed to give the 160 operating room personnel (nurses, scrub technicians, etc.) from across the U.S. and Canada a chance to improve their skills by taking a hands-on approach to fixing artificial bone fractures of the arms, hips and legs.

OR personnel typically prepare the medical equipment used in a surgical procedure, but they rarely get to use it. “The seminar gives them the opportunity to work with the same instruments and learn the same fracture care techniques that the orthopaedic trauma surgeons use,” said Beigler, who has facilitated similar courses for more than 20 years.

“They are an integral part of the surgical team. The better we work as a team, the better we ensure that patient care is at its optimum, which is the ultimate goal,” said Beigler.

“The seminar is a must-have,” said Ellen Hallberg West, RN and Clinical Case Manager of the Orthopaedic Division at Evanston Hospital. “We are seeing different patient loads coming in to the OR daily, especially now that Evanston Hospital is a level one trauma center, so staying up to date on fixation techniques is extremely important.”

Under the direction of Beigler and 20 other faculty surgeons, participants attended a series of principle (basic) and advanced courses, allowing them to take an active role in fixing artificial bone fractures. They learned how to repair routine fractures to forearms, hips, legs and ankles. They also used metal equipment like drills and screws to stabilize the various body fractures.

But most importantly, the seminar focused on AO – the gold standard of fracture management principles that are used worldwide in the field of orthopaedic trauma care.

Fifty years ago, a progressive group of Swiss orthopaedic and general surgeons created what amounted to a non-profit think-tank called AO, which stands for a long series of Swiss-German words (Arbeitgemeinshaft fur Osteosynthesfragen) that contract simply to AO. The group’s goal was to create a superior method of fixing broken bones that allowed patients to recover more quickly, and avoid serious post-surgical fracture diseases like muscle atrophy and stiff joints.

The principles of AO are to put the body anatomically back together; fix and stabilize the bones; preserve the body’s blood supply as nourishment for bones; and get the patient moving as soon as possible after surgery.

“The techniques, instruments and implants we are using today have evolved greatly in the past 20 years alone,” said Beigler. “What haven’t changed are the AO principles. That’s why these seminars are so important. They provide continued education that leads to improved patient care, efficiency and competence in the operating room.”