Paul lardizabal

Review of The Medical City

My son had an right inferior mandibular laceration...

My son had an right inferior mandibular laceration. We went to the emergency department and was triaged fast and was transferred to the emergency area near the nurses station on the hallway. We sat on two chairs. We patiently waited. An ENT doctor examined by son in one of the rooms. He said that all he needs are steri strips to approximate the laceration together. I disagreed because the laceration was about 2 cm in length and the subcutaneous layer was exposed. The mandible is a part of the anatomy that moves and steri strips on a child will not hold and approximate this area for the duration that it needs to heal which is about 10 days. Suturing is required.
*** I wanted to leave but a persistent nurse, possibly in charge, wanted to remedy the situation.
*** Dr. Areles and another female Doctor examined my child and stated that he indeed needed stitches. Dr. Areles did perform the stitches under local anesthesia. I had to restrain my son using the hands-inside- the pillowcase technique and then wrapping his body with a blanket. After the wound was explored and cleaned under a sterile field, local 1% lidocaine with epi was applied. When the wound site was numb, Dr. Areles was able to proceed with me holding my son. No other people offered to hold my son, no orderlies, techs, nurses, MDs.
*** A simple laceration with no other anatomical complications does not require general anesthesia with a plastic surgeon to perform a simple 10 minute continuous suture application. There are side effects to such an unnecessary procedure. It is like trying to kill a fly with a canon instead of a fly swatter. Not only will you kill the fly, you will also destroy whatever is behind it. Why???
*** My expectations as a first visit to Medical City was very high. But the events were utterly disappointing. I hope the this will serve as a Quality Improvement in patient care.