# What do they put in place of a removed internal body part? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 8, 2005, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-put-in-place-of-a-removed-internal-body-part/298330 "2005-04-08T03:08:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-put-in-place-of-a-removed-internal-body-part/298330/1 "2005-04-08T03:08:00Z")
I was reading the thread about **Indygrrl** ’s pending hysterectomy, and I got to wondering: When doctors remove a uterus, or kidney, or lung, or any other internal structure, what do they put in its place? I can’t imagine they would just leave an empty space there… that’s just… weird. 😉 Gauze or any other natural material would cause a serious infection. Saline would be absorbed by the body. Silicone implants would be overkill. What goes in the space? Adam ---
**Author:** ![rfgdxm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-put-in-place-of-a-removed-internal-body-part/298330/2 "2005-04-08T03:15:49Z")
> [@Agent Foxtrot](#): > > I was reading the thread about **Indygrrl** ’s pending hysterectomy, and I got to wondering: When doctors remove a uterus, or kidney, or lung, or any other internal structure, what do they put in its place? I can’t imagine they would just leave an empty space there… that’s just… weird. 😉 Gauze or any other natural material would cause a serious infection. Saline would be absorbed by the body. Silicone implants would be overkill. What goes in the space? > > Adam Nothing is put in its place by doctors. ---
**Author:** ![RayMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e495f1/32.png) [@RayMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RayMan)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-put-in-place-of-a-removed-internal-body-part/298330/3 "2005-04-08T03:27:05Z")
[This thread](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_274.html) would seem to indicate that nothing is inserted when a portion of the _brain_ is removed. It doesn’t say anything about other body parts, though. > [@Cecil Adams](#): > > In operating on a traumatized brain, one of the main objectives of the neurosurgeon is to relieve the pressure within the skull that may be caused by foreign objects, blood, or scar tissue. The absence of pressure is not considered a problem worth worrying about, especially in light of the fact that introducing foreign matter would greatly increase the chance of infection. When a portion of the brain is removed, the vacated space is occupied by the brain’s natural juices. As for Mr. Brady, his physician refuses to discuss the particulars of his patient’s skull, but he assures me that he agrees with the foregoing in principle. It’s a safe bet, in other words, that Brady does not have cotton in his head. If he did, he would certainly have been transferred to the budget office by now. ---
**Author:** ![RayMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e495f1/32.png) [@RayMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RayMan)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-put-in-place-of-a-removed-internal-body-part/298330/4 "2005-04-08T03:28:28Z")
Oh, wait, that’s not a thread, just one of the Straight Dope Classics! ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-put-in-place-of-a-removed-internal-body-part/298330/5 "2005-04-08T03:45:55Z")
When Mrs Geek got a hysterectomy they didn’t put anything in its place. I recall reading a story about a woman who had a lung removed due to lung cancer, and she remarked how it was a weird sensation to have nothing but empty space inside half of her chest. ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-put-in-place-of-a-removed-internal-body-part/298330/6 "2005-04-08T03:52:09Z")
It’s not like there will be an empty space where the uterus was. There are plenty of guts in there to fill the hole. The same with a kidney. A lung would leave a space. I’ve seen silicone implants to fill the space in a skull where part of the brain was removed. They have silicone testicles to give a normal appearance when one is removed. ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-put-in-place-of-a-removed-internal-body-part/298330/7 "2005-04-08T03:52:49Z")
I don’t think it would remain a vacuum though, unless there’s bone there to make the skin keep its shape (like in the case of a removed lung/brain matter). Wouldn’t the abdominal cavity just cave in a little? Well, I guess there’s bone surrounding the ovaries and uterus, but I would think that the muscle and fat surrounding a vacant appendix or spleen would just collapse in on itself. I can’t see the body keeping the shape of a spleen for the rest of a person’s life. Right? ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-put-in-place-of-a-removed-internal-body-part/298330/8 "2005-04-08T04:04:03Z")
Indygrrl will have a flatter stomach. Three cheers, Indygrrl! ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-put-in-place-of-a-removed-internal-body-part/298330/9 "2005-04-08T04:25:57Z")
Ever seen inside someone’s guts? Stuff is just crammed in there like a suitcase for a week-long vacation. You remove a little chunk of something - or even a big chunk - and the neighboring gunk will just have a little more space to slither around. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-put-in-place-of-a-removed-internal-body-part/298330/10 "2005-04-08T04:49:52Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Ever seen inside someone’s guts? Stuff is just crammed in there like a suitcase for a week-long vacation. You remove a little chunk of something - or even a big chunk - and the neighboring gunk will just have a little more space to slither around. Hey, don’t use that high-falutin’ fancy-schmancy medical lingo with ME! ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-put-in-place-of-a-removed-internal-body-part/298330/11 "2005-04-08T05:29:06Z")
It’s amazing how quickly one’s innards shift around to fill a vacancy. Many years ago my colon was removed. The colon is a large, bulky organ, and you might think there would be a permanently sunken area to mark its absence. When I looked at my abdomen about 12 hours after the surgery, there was a barely noticeable depression where the colon had been. After 24 hours, everything had stabilized in there, and my abdomen looked normal (except for a long scar and a stoma). ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-put-in-place-of-a-removed-internal-body-part/298330/12 "2005-04-08T12:38:02Z")
I seem to recall a National Geographic article talking about the brain, and they showed someone who had had a radical anatomic hemispherectomy (ie - half their brain physically removed) to control severe epilepsy while fairly young. One side of his skull had _slumped_, and he was due to have implants (titanium skull plates) to reshape his head. I wish I could find a picture. These days, a functional hemispherectomy is more likely - which destroys the hemisphere but leaves the tissue intact. Si ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-put-in-place-of-a-removed-internal-body-part/298330/13 "2005-04-08T12:44:58Z")
It’s true that in most cases, nothing is placed in the empty space! Along those lines, I thought you might like to know that sometimes a heart or kidney (and perhaps other) transplant involves attaching the new organ to the old one, leaving you with two whatevers. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-put-in-place-of-a-removed-internal-body-part/298330/14 "2005-04-08T13:12:41Z")
> [@](#): > > What do they put in place of a removed internal body part? Fudge! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Side\_of\_the\_Floyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@Dark\_Side\_of\_the\_Floyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Side_of_the_Floyd)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-put-in-place-of-a-removed-internal-body-part/298330/15 "2005-04-08T13:27:33Z")
_…What shall I use To fill my empty spaces…_ ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-put-in-place-of-a-removed-internal-body-part/298330/16 "2005-04-08T13:49:48Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > Fudge! 😃 Dang, I was shooting for cheez whiz and spicy ground beef. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-put-in-place-of-a-removed-internal-body-part/298330/17 "2005-04-08T15:02:29Z")
> [@slortar](#): > > Dang, I was shooting for cheez whiz and spicy ground beef. Oh, sure. But not on an HMO. ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-put-in-place-of-a-removed-internal-body-part/298330/18 "2005-04-08T15:14:23Z")
> [@si\_blakely](#): > > … they showed someone who had had a radical anatomic hemispherectomy (ie - half their brain physically removed) to control severe epilepsy while fairly young. … These days, a functional hemispherectomy is more likely - which destroys the hemisphere but leaves the tissue intact. I’m going to regret asking this — I know it will give me nightmares — but how do they destroy a brain hemisphere and yet prevent the tissue from becoming necrotic? It still has blood circulation then, but no neural activity? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-put-in-place-of-a-removed-internal-body-part/298330/19 "2005-04-08T15:22:14Z")
They should make a storage area. You could put your wallet, cell phone, etc… I’m also wondering how they can destroy a brain hemisphere and leave the itssue intact. I had just learned via the Schiavo case that damaged brain tissue gets re-absorbed, which is why her cerebral cortex was physically gone. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-put-in-place-of-a-removed-internal-body-part/298330/20 "2005-04-08T17:15:05Z")
> [@DarkSideoftheFloyd](#): > > Hey you, White House, ha ha, charade you are. Psst: You realize the reference is to [anti-smut crusader Mary] Whitehouse, not **the** White House, don’t you? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-put-in-place-of-a-removed-internal-body-part/298330.md?page=2)