Medical professionals performed a live demonstration of a surgical procedure on a cadaver appendage Wednesday for students at Lakeside High School.
Dr. Kevin Rudder led a team of medical professionals who visited the school for students to learn more about the career field. Rudder performed a arthroscopic surgery on the anterior cruciate ligament from the leg of a cadaver.
The demonstration was coordinated by MidSouth Orthopedics, the regional franchise and exclusive distributor for Arthrex. MidSouth works with medical offices in Arkansas and Louisiana.
Arthrex is an orthopedic medical device company. MidSouth owner Brian Wallace offered the first demonstration September in Cabot.
"I figured I wanted to do something to give back to the community," Wallace said.
The demonstration at Lakeside was the fifth offered by MidSouth, which is affiliated with the state high school athletic training association, where Wallace met Lakeside's athletic trainer and Sports Medicine instructor T.J. White. The two began to discuss a possible demonstration in Hot Springs.
Guests and students were asked not to take photographs of the cadaver appendages. Students also had the opportunity to view a dissected shoulder and two knees in person.
"We respect the donors," Wallace said. "As I get a cadaver in, I want to use it to its full extent. We do it and then I have to have it cremated."
MidSouth works with Rudder and other doctors for learning labs. The company reached out to Rudder for the demonstration.
"I'm not training Dr. Rudder how to do an ACL (surgery), but our system may be a little different than what he is used to," Wallace said. "We do a lot of labs for ongoing training."
Rudder has practiced orthopedic surgery in Hot Springs since 2011. He graduated from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in 1995 and is an Arkansas state board certified orthopedic surgeon.
Rudder performs about 60 surgeries per month. He is affiliated with National Park Medical Center, the Arkansas Center for Surgical Excellence and the Arkansas Surgical Hospital.
Wallace said Rudder was the first doctor to bring his entire staff for a demonstration. Wallace's business partner, Patrick McCrory, and four local nurses also attended. The nurses were able to earn continuing education unit credit hours.
Students in Sports Medicine I and II, Human Anatomy and Advanced Placement Biology attended the demonstration in the high school auditorium. The surgery was performed in the rear of the auditorium with images from the scope projected onto a screen in front.
"It's just some little exposure to what we do," Rudder said.
The presentation began with information about the anatomy of the knee. Rudder was assisted during the procedure by Mason McCurdy, of Conway, an orthopedic technical consultant for Arthrex.
The procedure took less than half an hour. Rudder explained ACL surgeries took three to four hours in the past.
Students asked questions after the procedure. Rudder said ACL injuries are most common soccer, then football, skiing and an increasing number in women's basketball.
He discussed the decreasing rate of rejection of grafts, how age and body size determine how doctors approach the procedures, an ACL repair's effect on sports performance and other related topics. Therapists were on hand to discuss the rehabilitation process.
Local on 03/31/2016