# What do they put in place of a removed internal body part?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-put-in-place-of-a-removed-internal-body-part/298330>\
**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:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Joe\_Mahma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@Joe\_Mahma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Mahma)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-put-in-place-of-a-removed-internal-body-part/298330/21 "2005-04-08T18:49:08Z")

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> [@continuity eror](#):
>
> Well, I guess there’s bone surrounding the ovaries and uterus

Nope. There aren’t any bones inside the abdominal cavity.

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**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, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-put-in-place-of-a-removed-internal-body-part/298330/22 "2005-04-08T18:58:52Z")

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> [@Biffy the Elephant Shrew](#):
>
> Psst: You realize the reference is to [anti-smut crusader Mary] Whitehouse, not **the** White House, don’t you?

Methinks the poster should become more familiar with what Pink Floyd meant in their lyrics. 😉

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**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, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-put-in-place-of-a-removed-internal-body-part/298330/23 "2005-04-08T20:07:00Z")

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> [@Revtim](#):
>
> 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.

[Functional Hemispherectomy](http://www.neuro.wustl.edu/epilepsy/pediatric/articleHemispherectomy.html)

The important part is the [corpus callosotomy](http://www.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/corpus_collostomy.htm) - disconnecting the epileptic hemisphere from the good side. Other disconnections also occur. Of course, this is not an exact science, but the human brain _can_ make incredible recoveries from this sort of surgery (but it may not). It is probably the case that the better hemisphere has already taken function from the damaged side, so it quite different from trying to remove half a normally funtioning brain from an adult (which would be hugely damaging if not fatal). Also, this procedure is usually carried out on children, whose brains appear to have more capacity to recover and re-form neural pathways. Blood supplies are left intact, to prevent necrosis. The excised hemisphere is there, but walled off from the rest of the brain and nervous system.

This is a risky procedure, and results are not always good, but it can result in a remarkable improvement.

Si (by no means an expert)

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