# Logistics of a looooong surgery **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 25, 2025, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logistics-of-a-looooong-surgery/1020124 "2025-06-25T15:22:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2025, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logistics-of-a-looooong-surgery/1020124/1 "2025-06-25T15:22:31Z")
You keep hearing about “such and such surgery took 13 hours” or whatever. I’m personally looking at one that will be 8ish hours (yikes) some time next year. How on earth does that work in terms of the staff? How do they manage pee breaks? The need for food? Severe foot fatigue? I mean, there are loads of nurses handy, but only one or two doctors - do they just say “keep 'er breathing, gotta take a dump”? “Can you bring me a cheeseburger? Whoops, I guess she’s got a pickle in her intestine now”? I am quite sure there are protocols, but Chicago Med and the like don’t show that part of the process. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2025, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logistics-of-a-looooong-surgery/1020124/2 "2025-06-25T15:31:42Z")
From what I’ve read, if the operation is long enough (say, 20+ hours,) everyone will indeed rotate. The surgeons will rotate, the anesthesiologist, scrub nurses, circulating nurses, etc. Some people wear diapers so they won’t have to do bathroom breaks. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2025, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logistics-of-a-looooong-surgery/1020124/3 "2025-06-25T15:46:27Z")
I scrubbed into a 17 hour surgery as a medical student (liver resection, very boring). I don’t remember if the chief surgeon took any breaks, but everyone else did. Never heard of anyone resorting to diapers. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2025, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logistics-of-a-looooong-surgery/1020124/4 "2025-06-25T15:46:53Z")
When my relative had a brain tumor a couple of years ago, they tag-teamed three surgical teams: eyes, ears, and brain. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2025, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logistics-of-a-looooong-surgery/1020124/5 "2025-06-25T22:28:12Z")
Someone I knew had a 20 hour surgery. They worked for 10 hours, took half day break and then another 10 hours. It was a for a very rare caudal cancer and the main concern was that the patient not end up paralyzed. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2025, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logistics-of-a-looooong-surgery/1020124/6 "2025-06-25T22:38:15Z")
Yikes. How long was the patient under anesthesia then??? Sounds like at least 24 hours. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2025, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logistics-of-a-looooong-surgery/1020124/7 "2025-06-25T22:44:46Z")
As in, a 12 hour break? I recently went down a rabbit hole regarding pelvic exenteration and sacrectomy, two very drastic operations I’ve personally never been involved with on any level, but are apparently performed not infrequently in Australia. (One particular team was, I kid you not, celebrating their 500th exenteration!) This is an operation where the bladder (and prostate in men), rectum, and the reproductive organs in women, are removed and the ureters and bowel routed into permanent stomas. There do exist procedures for vaginal reconstructions, if a woman wants it. The research I did said that the longest anyone had ever lived this way was FORTY-TWO YEARS. Me? I’d rather die than go through something like that IMNSHO. X-rays after sacrectomy are pretty freaky looking, too. Sometimes, they can be partially reconstructed with what could best be described as metal struts. I’m not the only person who has heard about a long operation, and wondered if there are times where the surgeon encounters something they weren’t expecting, and saying, “Whoa, what do we do about this?” This definitely happened to Sebastian Junger a few years ago, when he had a burst abdominal aneurysm, and the interventional radiologists found out he had some majorly messed up internal anatomy. (At one point, Junger, along with his father a lifelong “none” spiritually, had his late father show up to him and say, “Come with me; things will be all right.” It got him doing a lot of thinking.) [https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/In-My-Time-of-Dying/Sebastian-Junger/9781668050835](https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/In-My-Time-of-Dying/Sebastian-Junger/9781668050835) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2025, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logistics-of-a-looooong-surgery/1020124/8 "2025-06-25T23:10:22Z")
I saw a few instances where a person had a brain tumor, usually on the pituitary but not always, removed through the nose. The ENT broke the nose and patched it up afterwards, and the neurosurgeon removed the tumor itself. Back in the day, the Discovery Channel had a program called “The Operation” where they showed that being done. IIRC, the man had acromegaly and this cured him. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2025, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logistics-of-a-looooong-surgery/1020124/9 "2025-06-25T23:14:53Z")
I remember reading that separation of conjoined twins can take upwards of 24 hours, so, yes, multiple teams are involved. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2025, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logistics-of-a-looooong-surgery/1020124/10 "2025-06-25T23:19:09Z")
They also often share multiple organ systems. AFAIK, there has never been a case of twins joined at the head being separated with both children surviving unscathed. At least one has always had some degree of disability, usually severe. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2025, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logistics-of-a-looooong-surgery/1020124/11 "2025-06-25T23:47:23Z")
My big facial reconstruction was almost 7 hours. And they didn’t do my eye socket. They had to go back later for that, when they determined my eye was not salvageable. I thought about this and asked the surgeons assistant. He said you get used to holding your pee and not eating or sleeping regularly as an intern. If the surgery is more than that I bet they have a plan. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2025, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logistics-of-a-looooong-surgery/1020124/12 "2025-06-25T23:47:45Z")
Oh, and what was going on with the patient while the surgeon took that break? Was anyone else working on the patient, or was he just lying there, asleep, while being monitored? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2025, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logistics-of-a-looooong-surgery/1020124/13 "2025-06-26T00:21:04Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I recently went down a rabbit hole regarding pelvic exenteration and sacrectomy, two very drastic operations I’ve personally never been involved with on any level, but are apparently performed not infrequently in Australia. > [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I saw a few instances where a person had a brain tumor, usually on the pituitary but not always, removed through the nose. It’s not clear - were these long operations? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2025, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logistics-of-a-looooong-surgery/1020124/14 "2025-06-26T05:21:08Z")
Pelvic exenteration and sacrectomy are going to be long surgeries. Whether a nasal removal of a brain tumor is would depend on many factors. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2025, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logistics-of-a-looooong-surgery/1020124/15 "2025-06-26T05:40:41Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > I don’t remember if the chief surgeon took any breaks, but everyone else did TV teaches me that the chief surgeon says “close up” and walks away at the end. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2025, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logistics-of-a-looooong-surgery/1020124/16 "2025-06-26T11:28:48Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Some people wear diapers so they won’t have to do bathroom breaks. I would be very, very surprised if this has happened even once. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2025, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logistics-of-a-looooong-surgery/1020124/17 "2025-06-26T12:19:40Z")
I loved that show. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2025, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logistics-of-a-looooong-surgery/1020124/18 "2025-06-26T12:32:44Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Some people wear diapers so they won’t have to do bathroom breaks. Where exactly have you read this? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2025, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logistics-of-a-looooong-surgery/1020124/19 "2025-06-26T17:13:05Z")
That’s what my surgeon brother told me. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2025, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logistics-of-a-looooong-surgery/1020124/20 "2025-06-26T17:44:25Z")
I find it highly plausible, and I’m surprised there’s so much pushback. Some people, specially older men, need to pee frequently. This can happen when a man is still in excellent physical and mental condition otherwise. And i imagine that the washing and gowning required to enter a surgical arena is burdensome, and some men would rather use a Depends and not have to deal with that too often during a long procedure. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logistics-of-a-looooong-surgery/1020124.md?page=2)