Quotes About Surgery

Surgery has, essentially, four big killers wherever it is done in the world: infection, bleeding, unsafe anesthesia, and what can only be called the unexpected. For the first three, science and experience have given us some straightforward and valuable preventive measures we think we consistently follow but don't. These misses are simple failures—perfect for a classic checklist.

Most surgeons are sued at least once in the course of their careers. Studies

The front row is occupied by the most senior surgeons:

For all these reasons, the operation is at best a last resort

I had to wonder if we were right to operate on him.

So the night before the operation he did an unusual thing: he discussed the treatment options with her and let her choose.

decisions perhaps influenced by money, professional bias (for example, surgeons tend to favor surgery), and personal idiosyncrasy.

The neurosurgeon had already gone over them in detail.

I wouldn't be a surgeon if I thought otherwise.)

I did not say that the line was eight inches long and would go into his vena cava, the main blood vessel to his heart. Nor did I say how tricky the procedure would be.

In some way, it may be in the nature of surgery itself to want to come to grips with the uncertainties and dilemmas of practical medicine. Surgery has become as high tech as medicine gets, but the best surgeons retain a deep recognition of the limitations of both science and human skill. Yet still they must act decisively.

He was immediately taken aback, recognizing that an empty stomach is what we require for patients going to surgery. I tried

He was immediately taken aback, recognizing that an empty stomach is what we require for patients going to surgery. I tried to smooth matters over, saying that holding off was merely "routine procedure" until we had finished our evaluation.

Even with the simplest operation, it cannot be taken for granted that a patient will come through better off—or even alive.

Doctors may recommend the operation out of concern for their patients' health, but the stigma of obesity is clearly what drives many patients to the operating room.

and it's no accident that seven times as many women as men have had the operation.

Operations like that lap chole have taught me how easily error can occur, but they've also showed me something else: effort does matter; diligence and attention to the minutest details can save you." .

that. He had no regrets about the operation. It had given him his life back, he said.

What would cutting the man apart accomplish?

She said she would not go ahead with surgery.

In surgery, as in anything else, skill and confidence are learned through experience

I suppose people were trying to be kind and protect me from the humiliation of discovering that, even after an operation to straighten my ridiculous nose, I would still look a mess. The trauma of finding out that a straight-nosed Stephen looked every bit as unappetising as a bent-nosed Stephen might have tipped me completely over the edge.

There should be a way to surgically remove and store children's tongues as soon as they learn to speak," said Hugh. "Then, when they've graduated from college and distinguished themselves in the workplace, they could file a petition to have their tongues reattached." "I don't think that's feasible

I should be grateful to the knife that's curing me for being so sharp.