'-itis' by Vladislav Markov at Cornell University, Tjaden Gallery, New York

It is Saturday morning, an 8-year-old child is having an ‘open reduction and internal fixation’ of his broken arm under general anesthetic. This involves surgically exposing the fracture, realigning the bones, bridging the fracture with a metal plate secured by metal screws and then closing the wound. The anesthetist, Dr Wilkins, is a ‘trainee’. He is relatively new to the specialty having practiced anesthesia for 6 months, mostly under supervision. This is one of the first accessions he has worked independently. The excerpt begins in the operating theatre with the surgery already under way.

“Acting in Anaesthesia”, Dawn Goodwin