Does the patient get a catheter for the really long surgeries? Does anesthesia suppress excretions?
Yes. Pretty much every time I’ve had surgery there’s been a catheter.
Sometimes they remove them before you awake. That’s always a blessing.
Don’t be too sure on that.
I can’t speak to the bowel stoma but catheter is very easy to live with - in some ways easy than dealing with aging waterworks.
It’s got a simple valve and I just empty my defective bladder as I need to.
It in no way dimishes life quality.
Bowel stoma I might not like but I’d not apply for MAID over it.
I believe it was under a local (that is spinal) anesthetic. So he likely slept while the surgeon did.
[hijack]When I was under a local anesthetic during an operation for a broken, I was having an interesting conversation with the anesthetist. Of course that was just over an hour.
This is FQ. “Somebody told me” isn’t a cite.
Just a couple weeks ago I stood in an operating room and watched a couple surgeons swap out in the middle of a procedure like it was no big deal. The idea that one of them would take a shit in a sterile field is not plausible to me and, this being FQ, I’d like to see a cite for the claim since it was presented as a fact.
A surgeon told me this is what he did when he participated in long procedures is a cite for “what do surgeons do…” , just not a super high quality one. And I’d have guessed it’s just for a quick piss, not for anything more complicated.
But i don’t have any cites, so I’ll step out now.
[bolding mine] Which isn’t at all what @Velocity said.
[bolding not mine]
Yes, actress Barbara Barrie has written 2 books about her experience with rectal cancer and undergoing a colostomy in 1994, and how it ended up not being a big deal. And was still acting last year at age 93. Unlike Farrah Fawcett, who decided that rather than go through something like that, she’d rather die, and succeeded in doing so.
I haven’t been able to find any episodes on streaming, although they may be out there somewhere.
It’s not like the surgeon, or anyone else in the field, would be placing it anywhere near the patient, and what about someone in the sterile field who’s menstruating?
I’ve definitely heard plenty of stories about OR staff tossing their cookies when they opened up something with a horrible smell.
https://publishing.rcseng.ac.uk/doi/10.1308/rcsbull.2023.103
"If you are operating for a long time, even if your periods are light, it is something that you need to take into account. You will need a break at some point to go to a bathroom and change.”
That article sounds like it supports the idea of surgeons wearing diapers. At least, surgeons who need to pee more often than the norm. Women are already wearing “diapers” to contain their menstrual fluid, and the article describes the massive social pressure not to take too many breaks or admit weakness.
The article talks about how surgical suites have bathrooms (though not enough for female physicians) and describes multiple scenarios where a surgeon might leave the OR to change.
The OP asked whether surgeons leave the bathroom to “take a dump.” Velocity said some wear diapers so they don’t have to leave.
Acknowledging that menstruating surgeons are a thing in no way supports the notion that doctors are pooping in operating theaters. I’m willing to be convinced otherwise with a cite.
I missed that the question was about defecation. No healthy person needs to do that often, and i assume that doesn’t happen in the operating theater.
I was envisioning older men with prostate issues using a diaper for long procedures instead of taking numerous breaks. And i found two cites that are suggestive.
The first isn’t a great cite, but explicitly says that some surgeons get themselves catheterized to avoiding pee breaks:
Another option surgeons may utilize if they urgently need to urinate during a procedure are specialized surgical garments designed for such purposes. These provide a way to relieve themselves while staying sterile and not having to leave the surgical field.
For men, a type of external catheter called a urinary diversion device can be worn under surgical scrubs. This allows urine to drain into a collection bag strapped to the leg. For women, a similar product called a urine collection pouch can be worn.
The second is a better source, but it’s less on-topic. It talks about the differences between surgeons and anesthesiologists regarding the culture around taking breaks, and it makes the point the surgeons (unlike the other people in the operating theater) are under a lot of social pressure to avoid taking breaks:
I figure they don’t advertise it if they have had to poop during a surgery.
So cites of actual numbers may be difficult to find.
Still, I’d rather know my surgeon pooped and not suffered during my procedure. If he has to leave to do it, thats fine.
Thats why theres soap and water and gloves and his surgeon assistant in the room.
What worries me is seeing people in the cafeteria or outside dining area eating lunch while in scrubs. Are they going to change into fresh scrubs when they return to the operating room?
Probably. Very, very few of them are surgeons anyway.
“Man, I better hurry up with this procedure or it’s gonna get ugly in here.”
“Put your finger right here and press hard. I’m gonna see a man about a horse.”
I also noticed that this article was written about Australian and British surgeons, FWIW.
Almost certainly yes.
Our bodies are pretty well trained to HOLD IT IN, which is why we don’t need to change our bed sheets every morning.
I had one for my recent hysterectomy. I don’t think I had one for other shorter surgeries (an hour-ish); the hyst was similar length, but, well, they needed the bladder to be out of the way! Ditto my c-section.