Minor Office Procedures for Medical Assistants

Vocabulary and procedural flashcards based on the lecture notes regarding minor office procedures, wound care, and sterile field maintenance for medical assistants.

Medical Assistant Office Procedures

Tasks include removing sutures and staples, applying or removing sterile and adhesive dressings, applying elastic wrap, applying sterile gloves, and setting up the sterile field.

Office Procedure Time Requirement

A procedure that can be performed in a short period of time, usually $1$ hour or less.

Office Procedure Anesthesia Requirements

Requires local anesthetic, topical anesthetic, or none at all.

Office Procedure Safety Requirements

The procedure must be performed safely with a minimum amount of pain or discomfort and must not present a major risk to the patient.

Surgical Instruments

Common tools used in office procedures including scalpels, scissors, forceps, hemastats, needle holders, and miscellaneous gyne instruments.

Instrument Care

Handling with care to avoid damage, cleaning prior to autoclaving, keeping organized once sterilized, and ensuring sterilization dates are not expired.

Sterile

The absence of living microorganisms.

Aseptic

Being sanitized.

Sterile Field

A setup for any procedure that requires entering the body; non-sterile items should be set to the side.

Sterile Field 1-inch Border

The area around the sterile drape that is considered acceptable to touch.

Sterile Field Fluid Pouring

Fluid should be poured into a sterile container from a distance of $6$ inches away to avoid splashing.

Sterile Field Contamination

A condition that occurs if the drape gets wet, if the provider turns their back on the field, or if someone talks, laughs, sneezes, coughs, or reaches over the field.

Incision

A clean and smooth wound that could be surgical or caused by a smooth object cutting the skin, with no disruption of skin edges.

Laceration

A wound with a jagged edge, usually caused by something dull.

Puncture

A wound that breaks the skin and can damage underlying tissue, such as a splinter, animal bite, or nail; these wounds require a tetanus shot.

Abrasion

A surface wound involving the top layers of skin, usually occurring with a fall.

Approximated

When the edges on both sides of a wound can be pressed together completely, which is common in incisions treated with sutures or steri-strips.

Healing from the bottom up

The healing process for punctures and lacerations that are too deep to be sutured.

Signs of Infection

Indicators including redness, swelling, drainage, bleeding, pain, and fever.

Suture or Staple Removal Contraindications

Procedures should not be performed if there are signs of infection or if the wound is open in areas or gaping.

Suture Removal Protocol

Always remove the suture in the area nearest to you, place them onto a $4 \times 4$, and count them to ensure they match the MD note.