We live in very interesting times, people. Times in which the world becomes smaller and smaller as the time elapses, a world in which we become ever closer to one another, and social media is playing an ever bigger role.

I can only rejoice as I see social media getting a mainstream use and finally becoming what’s intended to be in the first place - a medium for conversations, community building, contribuitons and networking.

Recently, something quite remarkable came to my ears. Seems like a team of highly open minded surgeons from the Henry Ford Hospital used social media, particularly the twitter micro-blogging channel, to live cast the surgery performed on a 60 year old man, suffering from kidney cancer. Updates were regularly sent via twitter during the procedure, such that the patient’s relatives and friends may be up date to his current state. Dr. Rajesh Laungani, Twittered the updates from a laptop in the operating room (OR) while the surgeon, Dr. Craig Rogers, directed the surgery.

Here’s some twit excerpts, from Dr. Craig’s twitter account:

# Dr. Rogers places a laparscopic sponge on the defect created by the tumor and holds pressure for a few minutes#hfhor 8:50 AM Feb 9th from TweetDeck

# Dr. Rogers is using suture to stop any residual bleeding#hfhor 8:44 AM Feb 9th from TweetDeck

# The kidney is now completely perfused and no longer on clamp#hfhor 8:43 AM Feb 9th from TweetDeck

# Stacey Dusik is providing superb surgical scub assistance during this crucial portion of the case#hfhor 8:42 AM Feb 9th from TweetDeck

# Dr. Sameer Siddiqui has provided excellenct assistance during this cruicial portion of the partial nephrectomy.#hfhor 8:41 AM Feb 9th from TweetDeck

# After the clamps are removed there may be some residual bleeding that can be controlled with suture#hfhor 8:39 AM Feb 9th from TweetDeck

# Bulldog clamps are now being removed from the kidney blood vessels.#hfhor 8:35 AM Feb 9th from TweetDeck

# 28 minutes - tumor is excised, bleeding is controlled, we are about to come off clamp#hfhor 8:34 AM Feb 9th from TweetDeck

# the capsule of the kidney is cinched closed over the bolsters and the floseal using Weck clips#hfhor 8:32 AM Feb 9th from TweetDeck

“With the way medicine is going, patients are looking for more information about procedures going on. This kind of lets them know our world, what we go through in the OR and what kind of new technology we’re using.” said Laungani.

Hey and if you feel that’s not enough, Dr. Craig and Dr. Rajesh also taped the procedure and broadcasted it on YouTube! Social media at its best!

[via WebGuild]