In the operation scene, they show the kid crying in pain throughout. What I don't get is, wouldn't the kid be sedated? Technically, he would either be unconscious with a general anesthesia, or he would be numb in the face with local anesthesia. They made it look like he was being stitched with no sedation. Weird!
They still largely do it this way. They might numb the area with an injection but that is it unless it is a very large wound, and an injection of something like novicane won't do alot to numb the pain. My nephew had to get stitches on his forehead about six years ago, and my brother-in-law said that he whimpered the entire time saying 'Please don't sew me.' It is far safer to do this then to put a child under anesthesia which carries risks especially for children. Anesthesia is also very expensive and then there is recovery time for anesthesia so a quick simple ER visit would wind up requiring the patient to stay for recovery from the anesthesia which would in kids might require an overnight stay. Insurance sure isn't going to pay for that. My sister who happens to be a pediatrician says for a simple injury that can be dealt with quickly, anesthesia is just too dangerous for kids.
shareThey probably numbed the area before they started stitching. I think Billy was more scared than anything.
shareI remember sometime around 79/80, I was about 4 or 5 and my little brother was about 2 when he fell and hit his head on a huge brick flowerpot, which caused him to need stitches. I remember them stitching him up in what looked like a regular doctor's office and he was basically acting the same way as Billy so apparently he wasn't sedated either. Maybe during that time they hadn't developed any solution that would numb the area without causing the patient to be completely sedated and most doctors don't like to use anesthesia or sedation unless it's totally necessarily because it could be dangerous, especially for a small child and I guess having stitches put in wasn't worth the risk.
I woke up this way...