The worst smells in medicine...

[durak]

Having been an EMT and been smelled my fair share of nastiness, I'm dedicating this thread to all those putrid odors the body is capable of producing! What has been the most absolutely horrifying smell you have encountered in medicine?

I'll kick things off with my personal favorite - upper GI bleed. Makes me dry heave just thinking about it!

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[Jambi]

In no particular order..

Gangrene
GI Bleed with Dark Tarry Stools
Vomiting Fecal Matter
Old lady crotch
Burned flesh
Dead person

Not really a "body" smell but a mixture of smells..
Nursing home smell (a fragrant combination of urine, feces, vomit, sweat, evening meal, and any of the above).

 

[durak]

In no particular order..

Gangrene
GI Bleed with Dark Tarry Stools
Vomiting Fecal Matter
Old lady crotch
Burned flesh
Dead person

Not really a "body" smell but a mixture of smells..
Nursing home smell (a fragrant combination of urine, feces, vomit, sweat, evening meal, and any of the above).

Ohhhh yes, melena definitely makes the list. wow. how about homeless feet?

 

[MD'05]

Having been an EMT and been smelled my fair share of nastiness, I'm dedicating this thread to all those putrid odors the body is capable of producing! What has been the most absolutely horrifying smell you have encountered in medicine?

I'll kick things off with my personal favorite - upper GI bleed. Makes me dry heave just thinking about it!

Another medical student farting during rounds.

 

[DrOctopus]

A perfed colon in the cadaver lab.


No faster way to clear out a room.

 

[Doc Ivy]

From the anatomy lab, or any ortho sugery: the smell of a saw going through bone-- yuck

 

[doc05]

large bowel obstruction-->perforation-->bad news.

 

[8744]

I once did a pelvic exam on a 523 pound woman. As far as bad smells go the moderators might as well just close this thread because nothing more need be said.

She was kind of like France, i.e. she had at least 613 varieties of cheese.

 

[skypilot]

he he he

 

[v-tach]

Having been an EMT and been smelled my fair share of nastiness, I'm dedicating this thread to all those putrid odors the body is capable of producing! What has been the most absolutely horrifying smell you have encountered in medicine?

I'll kick things off with my personal favorite - upper GI bleed. Makes me dry heave just thinking about it!

I would agree that an upper GI bleed is pretty bad.

 

[iatrosB]

Does your nose ever adjust to the smells of medicine. That is the only part of medicine I am apprehensive about-the smells. Do you become immune?

 

[Gut Shot]

Morbidly obese woman dies in non-air conditioned house. During summertime. Bloated, blackened remains discovered approximately 2 weeks later. If the forensic pathologist is vomiting over his shoulder while doing the autopsy then you know it's bad.

 

[Whisker Barrel Cortex]

Most abdominal percutaneous abcess drainages are pretty damn bad. Although melena is definitely up there.

 

[NateatUC]

Most abdominal percutaneous abcess drainages are pretty damn bad. Although melena is definitely up there.

Along this line, I'll add perianal abcess drainage. As my Emergency Med advisor put it - stinky butt pus.

 

[beanbean]

Ear wax smells and looks disgusting. I hate flushing out people's ears.

GI bleed odor doesn't really bother me too much anymore.

GI bleed from a guy that's been dead a couple of days - still gross.

I&D of a sebaceous cyst/abcess that's been 'on my back as long as I can remember but I just can't stand the pain any longer'....yuck! When the patient comments 'God, that smells awful! Is that from me?" You know you have a problem.

 

[Gibby Haynes]

My first encounter with a GI bleed was on wards as a 3rd year med student. I went in to do the usual H&P etc, and shes says "I have to use the bathroom". I got the porta potty and she commenced to defecating. Being the gentlemen that I am I step out to look up some labs. I came back to find a toilet bowl full of the darkest blood I have ever seen. Now this did not bother me. It was the stinch that followed that caused me to throw up just a little in my mouth and a ran straight out of the room. Its more tolerable now, but it still erks me.

 

[njbmd]

Hi there,
Any of the above mentioned smells + the stuff they use to try to get rid of those smells.
njbmd

 

[MikeS 78]

you guys are in the minor leagues with this stuff

stepping it up to the big game

lactulose induces diarrhea.....

only time i have vomited from a scent

 

[!dr_nick!]

Bacterial vaginosus

 

[EMDream]

Infected gums and cheesy crotch.

 

[Barry Otter]

The egos.

 

[ColoMD]

Wet gangrene, by far.

 

[quideam]

melena tops my list - got a whiff the other day and man, that's just awful. Also, obese cadaver..... melted fat all over... ugh.

 

[Sheon]

Gangrenous feet (aka, Gangrene Blackfoot) can be smelled vary far down the hall. That was my worst.

Never smelled melena though.

 

[Winged Scapula]

dead gut

 

[tofurious]

If you think an obese lady's vaginal exam smells bad, imagine also a recto-vaginal fistula to make it worse.

 

[tr]

If you think an obese lady's vaginal exam smells bad...

Why do fat people smell worse? Is there any medical/biological reason for it, or is it just more difficult to wash in all the crevices?

 

[jvarga]

Suprised nobody has mentioned it yet...necrotizing fasciitis (especially in an obese pt)!

 

[TomC727]

Suprised nobody has mentioned it yet...necrotizing fasciitis (especially in an obese pt)!

That is number 2 in my book to a decomposing body.

 

[8744]

Why do fat people smell worse? Is there any medical/biological reason for it, or is it just more difficult to wash in all the crevices?

Poor hygiene. Fold Cheese. Inability to wipe. Numerous abcesses as fat is poorly vascularized and prone to that sort of thing. Sweat. More Sweat.

We're not talking about ordinary fat people here. We're talking about those patients who are as wide as they are tall and have fat dripping down around their ankles.

 

[heldicus]

Poor hygiene. Fold Cheese. Inability to wipe. Numerous abcesses as fat is poorly vascularized and prone to that sort of thing. Sweat. More Sweat.

We're not talking about ordinary fat people here. We're talking about those patients who are as wide as they are tall and have fat dripping down around their ankles.

Christ. I just lost my interest in medicine.

 

[katrinadams9]

Christ. I just lost my interest in medicine.

LOL! I hear you!

 

[heldicus]

Poor hygiene. Fold Cheese. Inability to wipe. Numerous abcesses as fat is poorly vascularized and prone to that sort of thing. Sweat. More Sweat.

We're not talking about ordinary fat people here. We're talking about those patients who are as wide as they are tall and have fat dripping down around their ankles.

But one other thing....I have always been taught that fat is highly vascularized

 

[8744]

But one other thing....I have always been taught that fat is highly vascularized

Well, adipose tissue is certainly more prone to infection. Additionally, surgical incisions in a "pannus" heal very slowly and are usally left open to heal from the bottom up.

Anybody? I am pretty sure that a typical pannus has an inadequete blood supply.

 

[salsadoc44]

400+ lbs fat asses...ahh the state of ohio...can't get enough

 

[TripleDegree]

"fold cheese" ??? a gross term but funny in a grotesque sorta way

 

[dancinjenn]

foods that morbidly obese people eat is a factor as well. My hubby has an aunt we call "Mama Sue"...of course, not to her face. All I can smell when I get near her is Pizza Hut and Kentucy Fried Chicken. All of that pork/chicken/beef fat smell just oozes out of her pores. I also agree with the not being able to wash factor.

Think of it this way. 5" tall woman, max arm span therefore 5"-ish, weighs 450 lbs, body circumference estimated at 2 yards...how do you wash anywere on your back? Or how does cleaning the undercarriage work when you have to #2? EW!

 

[cfdavid]

LOL! I hear you!

I'm out too!

 

[tofurious]

Think of it this way. 5" tall woman, max arm span therefore 5"-ish, weighs 450 lbs, body circumference estimated at 2 yards...how do you wash anywere on your back? Or how does cleaning the undercarriage work when you have to #2? EW!

Soak, bathe, soak, bathe, soak, bathe.

 

[Dr Who]

Poor hygiene. Fold Cheese. Inability to wipe. Numerous abcesses as fat is poorly vascularized and prone to that sort of thing. Sweat. More Sweat.

We're not talking about ordinary fat people here. We're talking about those patients who are as wide as they are tall and have fat dripping down around their ankles.

I think you just scared half the premeds away from medicine.

 

[45408]

Not really a "body" smell but a mixture of smells..
Nursing home smell (a fragrant combination of urine, feces, vomit, sweat, evening meal, and any of the above).

I hate that smell.

 

[Southpawz]

Forensics - by far the worst smell ever... Makes the dissection room smell like lillies.

 

[beanbean]

I think you just scared half the premeds away from medicine.

And they thought Organic was scary......

 

[pratik7]

Most abdominal percutaneous abcess drainages are pretty damn bad. Although melena is definitely up there.

Butt pus is def nasty

 

[Gimlet]

A family friend/OB-GYN recently told me about an obese lady with abcesses on her vulva that he was operating on. Apparently, the smell was so bad the resident had to leave the room 3 times to ralph, and the a nurse was basically dousing their masks in peppermint oil to fight the horrible smell.

 

[surrender903]

man o man i cant tell you how many times that just annoys me...

nursing home smell just is depressing

 

[Mad Cow]

Working in a Path Lab has its high points. No one has commented on a dermoid cyst. Not only foul smelling, the sights are just as wretching. Teeth and hair where they just don't belong!
Otherwise, we did get a leg populated with maggots. We put the leg in formalin overnight and by morning, the maggots were STILL alive! Lil buggers.
Sebaceous cysts are notably bad.

 

[LSUwannabe]

A family friend/OB-GYN recently told me about an obese lady with abcesses on her vulva that he was operating on. Apparently, the smell was so bad the resident had to leave the room 3 times to ralph, and the a nurse was basically dousing their masks in peppermint oil to fight the horrible smell.

Was it a Bartholin's cyst?

That would get my vote...yummy!

 

[EvoDevo]

This thread makes me:

 

[pikachu]

Trichomonas - maybe not as outrageously bad as some of the above but probably more frequently encountered -