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When life takes an unexpected turn due to a…
Date Recorded
January 03, 2024 Health Topics (The Scope Radio)
Brain and Spine
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August is the month with the highest reported…
Date Recorded
August 05, 2016 Health Topics (The Scope Radio)
Bone Health Transcription
Interviewer: How to be sure you are safe when you're riding a horse or are around horses, that's next on The Scope.
Announcer: This is, "From the Frontlines," with emergency room physician Dr. Troy Madsen, on The Scope. On The Scope.
Interviewer: Dr. Troy Madsen is an emergency room physician at University of Utah Health Care. I thought it was interesting. Dr. Madsen told me that in August here in Utah that there tend to be more horse injuries that come into the ER than any other time of the month. Maybe it's because of the fair circuit, maybe it's because of the rodeos. But I thought it would be interesting to find out what are the common horse injuries you see so people could be wary of that and protect against those sorts of things. So what is it?
Dr. Madsen: Well, you w you're exactly right. It is something we do see and for whatever reason, maybe more in the month of August, like you said, because of fairs or different events, rodeos, things like that going on. It's interesting; several years ago we actually looked at the causes of more significant trauma in our ER, those people who stayed at least overnight in the hospital, and horses were on the top five in that list at University of Utah. So kind of interesting.
Interviewer: Wow, I never would have guessed that. I would think there are so many other things out there that would be so much more dangerous, but . . .
Dr. Madsen: Exactly.
Interviewer: . . . a horse can be pretty dangerous, apparently.
Dr. Madsen: Horses can. I mean, at least in terms of some of the injuries we see.
Interviewer: Yeah. Doing some serious damage. So kind of what's the most common horse injury that you would see that causes a lot of damage?
Dr. Madsen: The most common injury would be head injuries. You've got to think of it kind of like bikes or motorcycles. If you fall off a horse, the biggest risk is going to be your head and your spine. I think the biggest thing we see with horses is people who get bucked off a horse, who come down on their head, who then have a significant head injury. Maybe a skull fracture or lacerations, bleeding in the head being the most significant thing that we see.
Then they are either brought to the ER because they're unresponsive or maybe they lost consciousness, they regained consciousness. We do testing on them to make sure there's no bleeding or lacerations to repair or any of a number of things that can happen with the head injuries.
Interviewer: So it sounds like that could be just about as dangerous like a motorcycle or a four-wheeler and so forth or maybe even more so?
Dr. Madsen: You've got to figure the height you're up on a horse. You're probably up sitting at least 4 feet off the ground and when you fall from that height, that's certainly higher than you would fall off a motorcycle or a four-wheeler.
Interviewer: A lot of times, a motorcycle might go down sideways so you're even closer to the ground before the head hits. So when you fall off a horse, it's . . .
Dr. Madsen: Yeah, exactly. And you're 4 feet up and then, if a horse kind of rears up and throws you off their back, you're even higher. So you can come off a pretty good height, not necessarily at the speeds for four wheelers or motorcycles but still, there's definite danger there in terms of coming down and hurting your head. As I mentioned, the other thing too is spine injuries. When we think of head injuries, we also think of the head getting pushed forward or some sort of damage or something hitting the spine directly. And then that can cause some very serious issues as well. So that's the other big thing we see and we look for.
Interviewer: All right. So helmets for head injuries, even though it's not as cool as a cowboy hat
Dr. Madsen: That's right.
Interviewer: I mean, I guess if you want to be safe. Spine injuries, is there really anything one could do to protect themselves against that if you're getting on a horse?
Dr. Madsen: Not a whole lot.
Interviewer: Yeah. That just might be part of the deal.
Dr. Madsen: It is and there are actually some inflatable vests that people can wear. I'm not sure exactly how they work, if here's something that then attaches to the saddle where if a person is bucked off the horse this vest inflates and actually protects the person. I personally know someone, an older lady, who was wearing one of these vests when she was thrown from her horse and she had some pretty significant injuries, but nothing that was so serious. And she probably really benefited from this vest inflating and protecting her.
She swears by it and says it made a big difference for her. So it's something where I know that's something that's out there that people may be aware of that you can use as well that probably does provide some spine protection and protection to your chest and abdomen.
Interviewer: All right. So those sound like ones that are probably staying overnight. Are there other injuries that you tend to see horse related?
Dr. Madsen: We see kind of the full spectrum of orthopedic injuries. People who get scrapes and cuts on their arms and legs, broken forearms. You've got to figure if you come down from that height, you try and brace yourself with your forearm. There's a good chance you're going to fracture your forearm. Ankle injury is also very common, depending how you come down. You come down on your ankle, your lower leg can snap. So we do see those injuries as well.
Again, those are things, maybe they're an overnight stay, maybe it's something we can repair in the ER. But kind of the full spectrum. Everything we see with motorcycles, with ATVs, with bicycles, we see all those things with horses as well and maybe even compounded a little more just because the height the person is falling from.
Interviewer: Sure. It sounds like maybe the advice is to wear a helmet and then also just treat the horse, treat the animal with respect. I think it can be easy for a horse person to kind of forget.
Dr. Madsen: Exactly. You become comfortable with the animal. You think, "Well, this is safer than a motorcycle or an ATV." Again, it's on our top five list of things we do see injuries with. They do happen. It's something to be aware of.
Announcer: If you like what you heard, be sure to get our latest content. Sign up for weekly content updates at thescoperadio.com. This is The Scope, powered by University of Utah Health Sciences. Want more on this topic? Get more on this topic at thescoperadio.com. If you like what you heard, be sure to get our latest content.
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Presentation given by Gregory Hawryluk, MD, PhD,…
Speaker
Gregory Hawryluk, MD, PhD Date Recorded
March 09, 2016 Health Topics (The Scope Radio)
Brain and Spine Science Topics
Innovation
Health Sciences
Medical Education
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The ADA became law in 1990 to ensure equal access…
Date Recorded
July 23, 2015 Health Topics (The Scope Radio)
Family Health and Wellness Image URL
https://healthcare.utah.edu/neilsen-physical-rehab-hospital/specialties/sci-spinal-cord-injury/ Transcription
Interviewer: Technology can help individuals with disabilities live a full and rewarding life. That's next on The Scope.
Announcer: We're your daily dose of science, conversation, medicine. This is The Scope. The University of Utah Health Sciences Radio.
ADA and the Purpose of TRAILS
Interviewer: Dr. Richard Kendall is with the Rehabilitation Center of University of Utah Health Care and we're talking about the Americans with Disabilities Act 25 years later, which really kind of changed a lot of people's thinking about including people with disabilities in life. Tell me about some of the work that you do to include people with disabilities in recreation.
Dr. Kendall: Well, not just including people with disabilities in recreation, but people who have a disability, like everyone else, want to recreate, wants to socialize, wants to get out of their house and out of work and do things that are fun. Our program, here at the University of Utah and TRAILS does just that for people with spinal cord injuries.
Recreational Equipment for the Disabled
Interviewer: And some of the equipment, the technology, and some of the things technology allows people with spinal injuries to do is amazing. Tell me about some of the things you have in your trailers. You have a whole bunch of trailers filled with lots of fun.
Dr. Kendall: Yes. Our program has three trailers full of equipment that are around the valley at any certain time. We have cart skis, we have robotic skis, kayaks that you can operate through sip and puff so really accessible to anyone with any level of any injury.
Advanced Technology at TRAILS
Interviewer: Let's take a little bit of a turn here and talk about technology and how technology has really changed the game for accessibility and socialization as well. There's something you have that I call robot legs, but you call it something else. Tell me a little bit about the robot legs.
Dr. Kendall: Yeah. The robot legs are exoskeletons, as they're called. They allow individuals with spinal cord injury, and soon strokes, to be able to stand and walk with the use of the robotic arms and crutches. This really is going to open a lot of opportunity for individuals with spinal cord injuries so they can stand, so they can walk, talk to their peers eye to eye. All of those are going to be very important.
Technology, in general, is really opening the world and we have Bluetooth controlled prosthetic knees now. People can snowboard, people can walk in them. The technology of carbon fiber allows people to run pretty quickly if you think of Oscar Pistorius. So technology is changing and really is going to open up a lot of access for individuals with a disability.
Interviewer: I'm guessing you're about the same age as I am. When I grew up, I watched "The Six Million Dollar Man." At that point of your life, did you ever dream that that would become reality? I mean, as a physician that's pretty amazing to watch that.
Dr. Kendall: Yeah. It certainly is. While "The Six Million Dollar Man," if you think back in, I think that was the '70s, how much $6 million would have cost. If you think about it now we have neural interphases that people have an electrode put in their brain and can operate robot arms just with their thoughts. So yes, technology is coming to life and I think these are going to be things that as computer and softwares develop further, we're going to see really tremendous growth.
Overcoming Disabilities in the Future
Interviewer: What's on the horizon? What's in the future? What next thing that we can imagine now is going to happen?
Dr. Kendall: Well, the exoskeletons are really in, what I would say is an infant stage at this point. I think that as the computer algorithms develop, you're going to be able these develop where you can stand and walk on their own. I mean, a number of companies have drones that can stand, walk, walk over rocky surfaces with no tethering devices for balance on their own. So I think you're going to see these develop into where somebody can put on the exoskeleton legs and walk even without the use of crutches, and balance, and not fall over.
Interviewer: Will that replace a wheelchair eventually?
Dr. Kendall: For many people, I think it will replace it for many things that they do and I don't think it'll be 100%, but certainly give them accessibility to be up and moving around.
Bluetooth Knees for Work or Play
Interviewer: That's incredible. I want to jump back quickly. What's a Bluetooth knee do, by the way?
Dr. Kendall: A Bluetooth knee, basically it's a knee that you can program through your smartphone and tell it to be more rigid or less rigid, depending on what activity you're doing. If you're using it for snowboarding, you can program it so it takes a real big hit and doesn't collapse easily, whereas if you're walking and you want a little more subtle joint play, then you can program for walk mode.
Stories of Life-Changing Technology
Interviewer: With your interaction with people that use this technology, your patients and what not, tell me the benefit. Tell me a story about how it affects their life.
Dr. Kendall: One of the things that when you see somebody stand and walk, who's been on a wheelchair for a number of years, just the look on their face and really their desire to be able to talk to you while they're standing up, it's really something that is hard to describe. It really brings a whole new phase into their life and gives them hope for the future and further access.
Then there's the person who used the sip and puff kayak for the first time, had been living mostly in a nursing home or assisted living facility for many, many years. And he is a ventilator-dependent quadriplegic, can't use his arms or legs, but operated the sip and puff machine very well. The only problem was because he would laugh a number of times, couldn't use the sip and puff]to correctly steer.
Interviewer: Because he was so excited that he was laughing.
Dr. Kendall: He was so excited, he was laughing, being out on the lake in the kayak.
Interviewer: If somebody was interested in learning more about this type of technology to make their life better, what would they do? What would be the first step?
Dr. Kendall: Well, the first step is to go to our website here at the University of Utah Rehabilitation Center and look for theTRAILS program.
Announcer: Thescoperadio.com is University of Utah Health Sciences Radio. If you like what you heard, be sure to get our latest content by following us on Facebook. Just click on the Facebook icon at thescoperadio.com MetaDescription
Today on the Scope we discuss how technology has made great strides in helping the disabled get back into the great outdoors!
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