Examples of Twitter messages from Iowa surgery

[September 02, 2009]  (AP) Doctors at St. Luke's Hospital in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, performed a hysterectomy and uterine prolapse surgery on a 70-year-old woman on Monday. Throughout the surgery a hospital spokeswoman relayed messages from the operating room via Twitter. Here are some of the more than 300 tweets that were posted:

• "Drs. making next four incisions right now, less than a 1/2 inch incisions. So far three of the five have been made."

• "Question about surgeon placement...one surgeon is operating at a console about 5 feet away from patient. Other dr. is at patient side."

• "We have 2 instruments in the patient. One is a scissors and the other is for cauterizing."

• "There are two types of stitches used permanent and they dissolve....they are placing them now and will then put the graph in."

• "The graph is a Y shape & so the two top ends of the Y are attached one to ea. side of the cervix and the long end is attached to sacrum."

• "We are getting ready to secure the uterine muscles and then will do the hysterectomy."

• "Dr. Rozeboom has removed the uterus now and will place it near the belly & remove it later."

• "Doctor says we are about 1/2 way done with this procedure"

• "Dr. Rozeboom is closing up the peritoneum right now. It looks like a long seam he is sewing shut."

• "Now we are going to do bladder repair & will undock the surgical robot to do this."

• "Dr. Rozeboom is getting ready for the next part of this surgery. He is changing surgical gowns and new getting gloves."

• "Both surgeons are stitching up the patient right now. Again, there are 5 incisions smaller than the size of a dime."

• "Now the drs. are looking in her bladder to make sure there are no holes."

• "Bladder is filled with fluid to allow them to view the bladder better."

• "The surgery is now complete. The catheter is going back in right now."

[Associated Press]

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