Which procedure is better? Both procedures have their benefits and I am proud to announce that in my lab we are going to start performing Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA). If you are not familiar with these two terms they are used for the treatment of varicose veins (bulging veins). They both are noninvasive and catheters are used to get to the abnormal vein in order to close it up. With RFA, there is usually less pain post op and less bruising than with laser ablation. RFA is typically the preferred method because it is generally associated with less discomfort. Both techniques are fairly fast and they are incredible improvements over the traditional vein stripping. With that in mind, if you or anyone you know have varicose veins, you know which treatments are commonly used. Oh the joy of aging :) Is it Friday yet? 

 
I am still not used to the long hours Monday-Friday, perhaps wearing compression stockings will help. I would like a masseur hopefully my mentor can hire one. As I am observing all kinds of vascular studies, and learning the new equipment that is being used here at the vascular lab, a case that stood out was a patient who was getting a carotid exam. I noticed that their right vertebral artery had a to-and-fro waveform or retrograde flow. When that situation arises you automatically should scan the brachiocephalic or innominate artery to check for stenosis. The diagnosis for this patient is subclavian steal syndrome (SSS). It is narrowing or occlusion of the subclavian artery. Off to watch the Real HouseWives of Beverly Hills...hasta mañana!
 
  Today was quite interesting for a Monday, I learned two new words in Hindi. "Guru" means one who has great knowledge and "Nath" means head of the family or the "best" of the best. It is ultimately rewarding being in the field of medicine, not only do you diagnose numerous conditions and help doctors to determine a treatment for the patient, providing one-on-one care, but you can also learn about new cultures and languages. Along with the typical rush and constantly seeing patients I did perform my first carotid study, well only the right side, which took me only 10 minutes. Of course I had some help because I am not too familiar with the machine yet, and my mentor did the left side. One day I will be faster than him if only....
P.S. Check out the video below!
 
   So I have been in my clinical site for a week now! This is my third day and already I have had many experiences. My first week has been hectic and I've seen a lot of patients. The environment is clean and pleasant so far and the work is satisfying. 
   In this profession you will come across some bad odors, however, the images you see are intriguing and pretty much gets the majority of your attention. My mentor is awesome and we have a pretty good relationship (only 3 days in) we will see how I feel about him later on during the year. A few things that I learned were: Be prepared to smell just about anything, typically in most cases the left vertebral artery is dominant over the right when doing a carotid study, if an AAA  (Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm) is measured 5 cm or greater than its surgery time! Anything less than 5 cm and greater than 4.0 cm it is monitored every 6 months. If it is between 3.0 to 4.0 cm then it is monitored every year. The aorta should measure less than 3.0 cm.  Hope this was useful! Back to more studies at the vascular lab. 

    Author

    I want to reach out to all students and any individual who is interested in the vascular ultrasound field.  Contributing my opinion and experience as a student I can bring awareness so existing or perspective students can benefit from what I have learned. Having the opportunity to voice my experience as a student may help improve challenges that many students go through while becoming a vascular sonographer. Becoming an expert in my field is my passion.


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