On Gluing a Child’s Eye Shut
thegreatworldofmelissa replied to your post: Epic Fail Was Epic
That shit scares me
caterpillarcowboy replied to your post: Epic Fail Was Epic
That sounds horrible. Will the parents sue for malpractice?
In the grand scheme of things, this is not the worst thing that can happen. A little baby oil gets the dermabond right off. No harm, no foul. The wound will still heal quite well. I’m told that everyone involved had a good chuckle about the whole thing (Including the parents and the child). People sue doctors for all sorts of ridiculous crap, but I doubt this parent will sue for this. There’s no lasting damage other that the damage that caused the need for a doctor visit in the first place.
As a side note: Whenever I use skin glue to close a laceration, I explain to the parents that there is always the possibility of gluing things we don’t want to glue. Dermabond can make big glue mats in hair. If the laceration is too close to the eyes, nose, or mouth, I tell the parents the choice is to either quicky glue the cut (Takes 2 minutes and causes no pain.) or I can numb the area with cream, wait 45 minutes, inject lidocaine into the face (Which NEVER happens without a fight), then close the laceration with stitches (Which can involve things like neck immobilization, strapping the child to the bed, straight jackets, and occasionally chemical sedation).
