In Praise of Bills Orthopedic Surgeon, Andrew Cappuchino (1 Viewer)

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

If he really did this before the player left the stadium, that's truly amazing. Not just because he was aware of a relatively new treatment, but because he was prepared for the situation, made a correct diagnosis and had the horse nuts to try something cutting edge in the heat of the moment. If you're a Bills' player, how grateful are you to this guy today?

"Green said the key was the quick action taken by Cappuccino to run an ice-cold saline solution through Everett's system that put the player in a hypothermic state. Doctors at the Miami Project have demonstrated in their laboratories that such action significantly decreases the damage to the spinal cord due to swelling and movement.

"We've been doing a protocol on humans and having similar experiences for many months now," Green said. "But this is the first time I'm aware of that the doctor was with the patient when he was injured and the hypothermia was started within minutes of the injury. We know the earlier it's started, the better."

Everett remains in intensive care and will be slowly taken off sedation and have his body temperature warmed over the next day, Green said. Doctors will also take the player off a respirator.

 

[3C's]

Yep. Quick thinking/action might have saved Everett from permanent injury. And the research conducted by Miami Project shows positive benefits.

And apparently Bills owner Ralph Wilson is a large contributor to Miami Project.

 

[GroveDiesel]

If he really did this before the player left the stadium, that's truly amazing. Not just because he was aware of a relatively new treatment, but because he was prepared for the situation, made a correct diagnosis and had the horse nuts to try something cutting edge in the heat of the moment. If you're a Bills' player, how grateful are you to this guy today?"Green said the key was the quick action taken by Cappuccino to run an ice-cold saline solution through Everett's system that put the player in a hypothermic state. Doctors at the Miami Project have demonstrated in their laboratories that such action significantly decreases the damage to the spinal cord due to swelling and movement."We've been doing a protocol on humans and having similar experiences for many months now," Green said. "But this is the first time I'm aware of that the doctor was with the patient when he was injured and the hypothermia was started within minutes of the injury. We know the earlier it's started, the better."Everett remains in intensive care and will be slowly taken off sedation and have his body temperature warmed over the next day, Green said. Doctors will also take the player off a respirator.

Awesome job by the Bills' medical team. Good thing they have a great medical staff because the number of injuries that they've had already is ridiculous. But especially great job on this. It's very possible that this technique not only is what will lead to Everett walking again, but that it even saved his life.

 

[On The Rocks]

Interesting story. Nine years ago my mom was sledding with the family. At the time she was 62. She somehow ended up getting off the sledding path and couldn't avoid a ramp type thing some other kids had set up. She hit the ramp, and came down on her neck breaking two vertebre. I can't remember which numbers they were...but they were near or at the very top, which from what I have heard is the most dangerous leading to paralysis.

The Dr's later said that the fact she had laid in the snow before she was taken to the hospital is what saved her life. If she had this type of fall with warm tempretures she likely would have died before reaching the hospital.

She had emergency surgery and had the "halo" deal for three months, and a neck brace for three months after that.

She was fully recovered within 6 months.

 

[KnowledgeReignsSupreme]

Science = a wonderful thing

It's a shame some people are so against it.

 

[ELI2TYREE]

That's excellent. I love this type of stuff. My dad was a orthopedic surgeon and it always interested me. Never had the brain power to do it myself, but I always used to look at his surgery slides and eventually videos of surgeries (scope jobs, etc)... neat stuff, its great that there are people like this. The Bills are lucky to have such a fast thinking and dedicated doctor.

 

[crowe1130]

Praise to Cappuccino if he saved this kid from paralysis!

If it does indeed turn out to be so successful, I wonder if this approach becomes standard practice for NFL teams when facing similar circumstances?

 

[Jene Bramel]

Interesting story. Nine years ago my mom was sledding with the family. At the time she was 62. She somehow ended up getting off the sledding path and couldn't avoid a ramp type thing some other kids had set up. She hit the ramp, and came down on her neck breaking two vertebre. I can't remember which numbers they were...but they were near or at the very top, which from what I have heard is the most dangerous leading to paralysis.

The Dr's later said that the fact she had laid in the snow before she was taken to the hospital is what saved her life. If she had this type of fall with warm tempretures she likely would have died before reaching the hospital.

She had emergency surgery and had the "halo" deal for three months, and a neck brace for three months after that.

She was fully recovered within 6 months.

The nerve that goes to your diaphragm muscle is formed from the spinal nerves at the third, fourth and fifth cervical vertebrae. Sever the connection to those nerves and paralyze your diaphragm, you stop breathing.

 

[Jon_Moore]

Genuis. Pure Genius.

And, as the first poster said, what balls.

I can't think of anything that would go wrong with it, but I'm sure there are things that could (shock?), and to be the first or even one of the first to just do it is pure balls.

 

[ATC1]

Great story. It amazing how medical research and practice is at an all time high. Players are coming back from ACL reconstruction, the Lis Franc and microfracture surgery at an all time high. It wasn't too long ago that if someone had a meniscus tear the doctor would take the meniscus completely out. Now then make a couple incisions the size of an eraser, clean out the area and the player is good to go in two weeks.

 

[ATC1]

In the south, we started using cold IV fluids for people sufferring from heat exhaustion and heat cramps. The main goal in these situations is to get as much fluids in the player as possible while cooling down the core temp. Amazes me, why no one has thought of it before.

 

[Bri]

Great move by the doc.

As someone else said, why didn't we think of this earlier to counteract the swelling?

The NFL has spent a large amount of $ on researching head and neck injuries. IIRC one such article created a concussion debate here this summer. Hopefully this triggers them to spend more on medical research.

Most ACL surgeries and current theories all started or is an improvement on theories from the doc that performed Bernard King's surgery, 25(?) years ago. On this board I can think of dozens of people (threads) that benefitted from all this. Sports teams and leagues have sums of money we can only dream about let's hope this triggers them to spend more on research.

 

[Saints-Man]

to the docs for the preparation, quick thinking and courage to think outside of the box.

 

[Saints-Man]

In the south, we started using cold IV fluids for people sufferring from heat exhaustion and heat cramps. The main goal in these situations is to get as much fluids in the player as possible while cooling down the core temp. Amazes me, why no one has thought of it before.

I think because it might be a bit counter-intuitive. For heat exhaustion and heat cramps, it follows somewhat logically that cooling the body through the blood is a good idea.But in this case, besides the original injury, you are introducing other medical problems associated with a hypothermic state. These doctors obviously did their due diligence with research, and took a calculated risk that at this points looks to have significantly increased the patient's chances for recovery.

All kudos to the doctors, but I don't think this treatment is intuitive and it is something that is found after extensive research.

Go science!

 

[ScoobyDoo]

Good work by the doctor. Great news this morning.