Another consideration about surgery -- death!

I just read this article. I know it is rare, but it can happen.

http://www.kentucky.com/2011/06/08/1766605/lebanon-police-chief-dies-during.html#storylink=omni_popular%23wgt=pop

(made link clickable)

Post Edited By Moderator (Steve n Dallas) : 6/8/2011 1:42:13 PM (GMT-6)

HD-Rider:  if you're reading this, with surgery scheduled tomorrow, please bear in mind that such an occurrence is rare, rare, rare.  People also die from having their appendix removed, or tummy tucks, or maybe even getting their ears pierced.  And we don't know this patient's medical history....he may have been "high risk" because of pre-existing conditions. 

Cases like this is why we sign all those waivers prior to surgery, but they're very uncommon.  Someone probably has reliable stats on this.

Glad you came thru, EnglishBob!

I was a little worried about dying on the table, until I talked to the surgeon about the reality of % and my situation, age, health, etc.

He said the biggest danger I faced that day was the car ride to the hospital. He said I'd never be safer than I was once I was in his OR and I believe he was right.

English Bob's story above doesn't indicate to me that he came very close to dying on the operating table -- quite the opposite. It is proof of how safe he was. A disaster and he walked out of the hospital. That's the story.

I was once on a jet over the Pacific Ocean when an engine went wonky. We turned back, landed safely. I suppose I could claim I "almost" died in an airplane disaster but the real story is that the plane had such great lift, and redundant systems, and pilots trained to handle this, that we landed safely --- I really was never in any danger.

At least, that's how I see it.

Sheldon AKA Sleepless

My surgeon almost missed seeing on the chart that I am allergic to Amoxicillin, which was an antibiotic they planned to give during surgery. A simple checklist is very important to use before and after surgery. The Checklist Manifesto, a new book by Atul Gawande is an incisive look at this issue.

A relevant point, but statistically not one to worry about IMO. Also the article referred to does not actually report on the cause of death, qwhich may well be quite a complicated stroy. (A friend of my dad died when he had a heart attack during surgery, which may have been the strain of the surgery or he might have been going to have the heart attack then any way - and that sort of thing tends to be quite major given the patients can't be resucitated even though they have the heart attack right in front of a group of medics, with all the right equipment and skill to help.)

My hospital published their stats on deaths during surgery (though I didn't see them until after I had my surgery) If I read them correctly then the uro department has not lost a patient on the operating table for years and years, and there did not seem to be any deaths in the immediate post-op period either.

I think surgery going wrong in some way can though be more frequent, but a good surgeon will be able to deal with it and you will still be able to walk out of the hospital a few days later. The above posts are spot on about "near misses" etc.
In the old days (excess) blood loss during surgery was almost the norm. Nicking bloodvessels can happen very easily, especially as no two patients have exactly the same internal layout. (My tongue once twitched while I was at the dentist and the drill severed a large vein under my tongue, the dentist just calmly pressed a finger against it, asked the assistant to get some sutures and then stiched it closed.)

Hospital infections are another issue all together and are perhaps another advantage of Da Vinci's involving a shorter hospital stay. (My father-in-law had a quadruple by-pass last year, which went well, but he obviously had to stay in hopspital for several days afterwards and towards the end of that period he caught an infection. Similar story when my sister was hospitalised for a while after surgery)

There was a comment here recently that I agree with, that the best surgeons to have are the ones who have done lots of open AND lots of da Vincis, as among other things they will not be caught out if they have to switch half way through.

I hope all those reading this who are soon to have surgery will be able to have a very good conversation with their surgeons and anaethetists beforehand to have all such aspects explained to them in the right way.

Alf


Alf

well said, brain surgeon

Stopped by the office today for a brief visit to learn that one of my coworkers underwent knee surgery shortly after I left the office for the open RP. He apparently reacted to the anesthesia and almost died. This reaction caused his intestines to fail and resulted in another operation to remove much of his colon with subsequent colostomy. From what I was told, he is in really rough shape and not out of the woods yet. All this from a seemingly routine knee surgery.