Inter-costal Calamity

Inter-costal drain insertion in the UK, US and other developed countries is a surgical procedure performed in the Operating Room (OR). What you are about to read would NEVER happen on Grey's..

In South Africa, there is such a large amount of Gun Shot Wounds and stab wounds that it is a routine procedure performed in casualty rooms (and even the ward) while the patient is fully conscious. Thus, these beautiful wounds are the warm, moist breeding grounds for infection.

I watched a doctor insert one in casualty with a small amount of local anaesthetic in the area of insertion. The woman had been raped and stabbed in the chest and was understandably not feeling very affectionate towards the male species in general. Good thing the doctor inserting the drain was male.

The procedure involves cutting through all layers of skin and piercing through the muscles between your ribs, straight into the lung. Extremely painful. Although we were trying to hold the patient down while she screamed "What the fuck do you think you are doing!?", she managed to get in a couple punches, focusing on the doctors' very large nose. Bruised and battered (more so than the patient), the doctor eventually got it in, resulting in a big WHOOSH of air - blowing his hair back in a way reminiscent of a model on a gusty autumn day photoshoot.