r/surgery

Saw a funny video about a doctor experimenting flatulence and its safety in the OR. So it seems that if the flatulence is through some type of fabric/clothes its safe to do. But what if the patient is prone on the table and rips one? There's also situations where the patient has to flip mid case to finish surgery.

1. Is flatulence aerosol?

2. If so, and youre the patient in the OR amd you rip one, is your own gut & skin bacteria safe during surgery and it wont break the sterile field?

I'll be moving to Nevada soon so I am looking for a recommendation for a surgeon that does open myomectomies

Thx!

I had meniscus repair surgery on 25 June 2026. I went in texpecting it for to be a 45 minute surgery but it went on for two hours and my husband said he got worried. After two hours the Surgeon explained to my husband that they did not have the anchors to anchor my meniscus is down and that they were sorry and they needed to schedule a revision surgery. After reading the operating room report, it says that they did not have the right tubing, underwater cautery tools and lastly, they did not have the needed anchors to anchor my meniscus down. That was the whole point of my surgery. Now I have to go under sedation again and reopen my knee. I can’t start Physical Therapy, I need to start all over again from square 1. This surgery was planned for a month before I actually went in, so I’m wondering why they did not have the tools to complete my surgery. Needless to say I’m going to a new orthopedic doctor and a new hospital and the risk management has escalated my case to their parent company to be reviewed

Hello all!

I just got an interview as a Surgical Services Assistant and I haven’t ever worked at a hospital before so I’m struggling to understand where I fit in the puzzle.

For background: I have my CNA and have been a nursing assistant at long term, rehab and memory care skilled nursing facilities / nursing homes. I’m currently going back to school to pursue a Physician Assistant degree and I’m hoping to get exposure to PAs and how they work in surgical settings before I get accepted into a program and commit that time and money.

The job that I got an interview for has these listed as the key job duties. Is this something that would help me see how things run, get opportunities to watch surgeries and meet surgeons, PAs, surgical nurses, etc. or is this a job that will stick me with the grunt work and not get any exposure?

Job duties:
*Responsible for preparation, set up and cleanup of assigned spaces.
*Properly identifies, handles and disposes of biohazardous, hazardous and pharmaceutical waste according to policies and procedures.
*Safely transports supplies, instrumentation and equipment needed for surgical procedures.
*Provides patient transport within the facility via stretcher, wheelchair and ambulatory assistance.
*Completes and maintains records of assigned check lists.

I’m a medical student, I was discussing this with a team of surgery Residents today, in context of cesarean sections, which have been around for thousands of years.

What precautions did physicians use to prevent infections, if any? Did they use any form of antiseptic?

Did people go into surgery assuming that they would die?

How Would they suture the incisions, and did the surgical sites always get infected?
Thank you!

Greetings. Pathologists’ assistant here. I have some questions about appendectomies. Obviously this is anecdotal, but is there an increasing trend of treating suspected appendicitis with antibiotics, drain, and imaging rather than surgery?

In the past week to ten days we’ve received multiple cases of presumed appendicitis that was a malignancy. By the time the malignancy caused symptoms, the cancer had spread all over the abdomen and the surgeries these patients received were en bloc resections of multiple organs.

I know that surgical guidelines are above our pay grade, and correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t around 1-2% of appendectomies positive for malignancy? It seems as though conservative treatment is going to miss those.

Hello, I recently became a board-certified abdominal surgeon, and I would like to ask for your opinion/experience.

What helped you improve and continue developing on your journey as a surgeon? What did you read, and which courses did you attend? Thank you!

Hello, I’m an OMS4 about to begin his first audition rotation in general surgery. I had a beard during third-year and got feedback from a FM resident that if, for instance, all the surgeons are cleanshaven then it’s a matter of etiquette to not be the only one wearing extra gear/coverings on the head. Or something along those lines, that being the only one with a beard is “not a good idea”. Do any attendings care if a medical student has a beard, given that he makes sure to cover it adequately in the OR? Is it more a matter of convenience to be clean shaven, or is it more of a “don’t be the odd one out” ?Apologies if it’s a strange question. Thank you!!

I'm 15 and would like advice on any books I can read or practices I can do to become more knowledgeable. Thank you

Sorry if this is not allowed, I’m not a doctor. I’ve had mohs surgery to remove a basal cell carcinoma on my face, and laparoscopic hysterectomy with 5 incisions. In both cases I was active on the respective Reddit communities. And from my own and others experiences, it seems that many surgeons do not specifically recommend their patients use scar tape/silicone gel sheets to improve the scar appearance. I have read a few studies showing how effective they are, especially for new scars. You’d think surgeons or their team or the take home printouts would at least mention it as something to look into, especially for facial scars. Why is this not the norm?

Your surgical career spans thousands of cases. Where's the record?

Logbooks end at residency. After that, there's nothing.

No cumulative procedure volume. No documented outcomes. No portable record of what you've actually done that travels with you when you change institutions, take visiting cases, or apply for privileges somewhere new. Your career exists in your memory and nowhere else.

I'm exploring an idea: a permanent surgical logbook that lives with you for your entire career. You log cases by specialty, procedure type, and your role. Outcomes tracked over time. And here's the part that makes it different from a spreadsheet you keep yourself -- the hospitals and facilities you've worked at can counter-sign your entries. That verification comes from the institution, not from you.

The result is something between a pilot's flight log and a CV. Verifiable. Portable. Yours.

It would be free. Your data, your control over what's visible and to whom.

What I actually want to know:

Would you use something like this, or does it solve a problem you don't actually feel?

Is the institutional counter-signing realistic -- would the facilities you've worked at actually do this?

What would make you trust it enough to log your cases there consistently?

Is "a permanent verified record of your career" genuinely appealing, or does it sound good but feel unnecessary in practice?

Be direct. I'd rather hear "this solves nothing" now than after building it.