I looked for the reviews, to see if anyone has written anything particularly witty, but it’s too soon.
It doesn’t really. DOs have slightly different academic training from MDs but further training and licensing is similar ( in fact , many states have a single licensing board for DO and MD). But a “doctor of osteopathic medicine” in the US is not the same as an “osteopath” in some other countries , which is a type of alternative medicine.
They inflate the abdominal cavity with carbon dioxide to give themselves some working room, so the camera isn’t just slithering around, it’s hovering over the organs before they start cutting into anything.
You’d be surprised - take a look at this video (about 1 minute in), if you dare:
Thank you for the explanation.
BTW, note that all of the stories about this case are based on the press release from the plaintiff’s attorney. Neither the doctor nor the hospital is saying anything, which is wise, of course. But in the end, the story may be more complicated.
That was very cool, but you didn’t see them pull out anything as large and solid as a liver through that little hole. I guess if you sliced the liver into little bits you could do it? But that seems like a risky technique, on several levels.
:aside:
I’ve occasionally dealt with legitimate doctors (i.e.: practitioners of the former) getting lost and ending up on the Wikipedia article for the latter, cleaning up the mess they make when they change the article as if it is for the former.
The article says the other people who were in the operating room are also named in the lawsuit.
I bet!
There are terms for the person graduating first or second in their class (Valedictorian & Salutatorian). In medical school there is a term for the person graduating last in their class (Doctor).
My son-in-law told me he had classmates who he would happily refer friends or relatives to as well as several classmates he wouldn’t refer his worst enemy to.
My understanding, which could be flawed, is that the liver was indeed morcellated (fragmented) as it was being removed.
Wonder how the pathologist who received the liver specimen managed to diplomatically frame the diagnosis.
Specimen designated “spleen”, resection: Fragments of benign hepatic parenchyma; see comment.
Comment: No splenic tissue is identified in the specimen on multiple sections, suggesting that the findings are not representative. Clinical correlation is recommended.
Thank you.
BTW, I just noticed your custom title / motto. Great one! 
“'e’s got no spleen in 'is spleen!”
That part would be reserved for the baffled phone call with the surgeon.
When surgeons amputate limbs, it’s common for them to clearly mark the “correct” and “wrong” limbs with just a marker. They often have the patient do it themselves, even. You can’t write “wrong organ” on your liver.
But it’s also easy to imagine how a surgeon could remove the wrong limb. It’s frankly really hard to imagine how a surgeon could confuse a liver with a spleen. I’ve dissected mammals. The organs… look different and are in different places.
Bad news: we amputated the wrong leg.
Good news: the other leg is getting better!
When all’s said and done, we’ll probably find out that it was some sort of clerical error - the patient was wheeled into the wrong operating room, some form was filled out wrong, or something like that. Not that that makes it any better, of course.
Also, their vasculature is markedly different. The surgeon lighted vessels that should have been recognizable.