Funtabulously Frivolous Friday Five 178
Just when you thought your brain could unwind on a Friday, you realise that it would rather be challenged with some good old fashioned medical trivia FFFF, introducing the Funtabulously Frivolous Friday Five 178
Question 1
You finally manage for the first time in the year to make it to the doctors lounge and find the surgical team playing computer games. You roll your eyes and mutter something derogatory under your breath. The surgical team state that they are training. Do video games actually help surgeons?
Reveal the funtabulous answer
Yes
…when it comes to laparoscopic procedures in the sim lab
When tested in a simulation environment those surgeons that played >3hrs per week of video games made 37% less errors and were 27% faster than their non-gaming peers.
- Rosser JC Jr et al. The impact of video games on training surgeons in the 21st century. Arch Surg. 2007 Feb;142(2):181-6;
Question 2
Why is it called ‘Plaster of Paris’?
Reveal the funtabulous answer
Plaster is the common name for calcium sulphate hemi-hydrate made by heating the mineral gypsum. Plaster was first made about 9000 years ago, but it wasn’t used on a large scale until 1700s, when it was required to be used in on all buildings in Paris following the 1666 fire of London.
This resulted in large-scale mining of gypsum which was available around Paris in huge quantities (namely Montmartre). Thus, during the early 18th century, Paris became the centre of plaster production, and hence the name, Plaster of Paris.
Question 3
After Valentine’s day you meet up with friends and discuss what you did. You claim you scaled a wall to sing to your sweetheart and subsequent sustained a ‘lover’s fracture’, what is this and what is the associated injury?
Reveal the funtabulous answer
The name “lover’s fracture” is derived from the fact that a suitor may jump from great heights while trying to escape from the lover’s spouse and sustains a calcaneal fracture.
There is an important association between lover’s fractures and a burst fracture of the lumbar spine.
- Lover’s fracture. Radiopaedia
Question 4
Who first described the phenomenon of clubbing?
Reveal the funtabulous answer
Hippocrates (sometimes called Hippocaratic fingers)
Follow the link for a list of possible causes.
Question 5
What was Devonshire colic?
Reveal the funtabulous answer
Colic from lead poisoning as a result of drinking cider.
Cider leached lead out of the vats and presses in England during the 17th and 18th centuries.
This discovery was made by Dr. George Baker in 1767 and by the mid 1820s lead poisoning due to cider was nearly non existent due to a change in components.
FFFF
Funtabulously Frivolous Friday Five
Dr Neil Long BMBS FACEM FRCEM FRCPC. Emergency Physician at Kelowna hospital, British Columbia. Loves the misery of alpine climbing and working in austere environments (namely tertiary trauma centres). Supporter of FOAMed, lifelong education and trying to find that elusive peak performance.