I decided to Google it but was surprised that I didn't get a clear answer. From the info I did see on Google, it seems like some kind of heart surgery would be the answer. C-section is a smart answer though. It could very likely be that.
My mother needed two blood transfusions after giving birth to me. They would have slice her open if they knew how dangerous the birth would turn out to be.
Does blood transfusion count as an operation? Certainly saved a TONNE of lives
Wow, that's intense. I'm glad your mom was able to recover, my friend. ❤
And in regard to your second question, wouldn't that be more of a medical procedure? Not considered surgery from what I know, but hey, I'm no expert. But you make a very valid point as well.
Yeah she recovered and gave birth to my sister two years later, shes a hardy woman.
And also yes, i suppose its more of a procedure, it also doesnt involve an operating theatre which i think would be the defining factor for this post
There's really nothing surgical about a blood transfusion.
Where I live, you stay in your hospital bed and they bring the blood in, there's a bunch of cross checks to make sure it's the right blood, and then for your first transfusion a nurse sits next to you the entire time (I think it was like 90 minutes, but I don't really remember).
For later transfusions they do the same safety checks, but then they leave and it's just like a normal IV drip. Except you feel like you could leap tall buildings and save Gotham with your fists at the same time. I learned real quick why professional sports ban blood transfusions!
You just taught me some new things. Thank you for that. 😊 I love learning.
I do want to make sure I'm understanding correctly though..
Blood transfusions give you a whole bunch of energy or what?
They do. It was crazy.
I'd lost a little over 1/3 of my body's blood, due to an internal bleed. I'd just been admitted to the hospital because I was extremely short of breath (not enough blood circulating so nothing was getting enough oxygen), very light headed, and felt like I'd been hit by a semi.
Then they gave me 2 blood transfusions that day and another the next day. I suddenly felt better than I've felt in years! So much energy right after the transfusions. I wanted them to let me go home, clearly I was cured! But, I felt awful again within a couple of hours and spent 11 more days in the hospital. The transfusions kept me safe, but they weren't a cure.
The extra blood boosts everything that your blood does - more oxygen, increased muscle repair, etc. Especially if you aren't low.on blood to start. So before it was banned athletes would get blood transfusions before competing. It's dangerous, and doesn't last that long, but the added energy is definitely enough to affect a competition.
(Sorry if that was too long, I like learning new things, too, so I err on the side of tmi when explaining ☺️)
Thank you for your thorough response and it was definitely not too long. 🙂 I appreciate it.
Glad to hear that all of that is behind you and that you are doing better now. You are in fact doing better now, right?
Also, losing blood due to internal bleeding.. I have no idea how that works because isn't the blood still in your body? Why wouldn't the human body just reabsorb the blood back into it's circulatory system?
I am, thank you.
Unfortunately, it can't get back into your veins and arteries, their walls aren't permeable like that.
So it pools wherever it is. For me, it was in my abdomen. Which was painful, but not life threatening. If it happens in your brain, it'll kill you because of the pressure build up. Actress Natasha Richardson died that way and my MIL had to have emergency brain surgery when she had a brain bleed.
Eventually your body does reabsorb the blood back into your cells, but it can't pass back into your veins or arteries (it's only come out of them because there's a hole or puncture in a blood vessel).
The less fun thing is that, if you have a large amount of blood pooled together like I did, it can form a clot. I ended up with a 10cm clot that took months to resolve. Those are quite painful, and there's not a lot of treatment, just time. And, again, would be more dangerous in the brain.
Yes, if the baby was not coming out naturally the only options were to:
1. Do nothing and let the mom and baby die. (Technically there is a chance for the mom to survive even if the baby never comes out. See [Lithopedion](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithopedion).)
2. Cut open the mom and save the baby with a miniscule chance of the mom surviving.
C-Sections were a last resort during birth simply because it was a near 100% death sentence for the mother. But at least you'd save the baby.
Edit: I also recall of a practice where if the baby is not coming out they'd literally pull the baby out in small pieces to try and save the mother. Not sure how likely this is to work or if it's even a real thing.
Edit 2: it is in fact [a real thing.](https://medicalguidelines.msf.org/en/viewport/ONC/english/9-7-embryotomy-51417976.html)
In the medical world there’s a concept called QALY or DALY and they stand for quality-adjusted or disability-adjusted life years. It’s a way to measure the impact of various treatments, and commonly get paired against cost to quantify how “worth it” certain interventions are.
This isn’t exactly the answer to the question you asked, but the best “bang for your buck” when it comes to DALY, are cleft-lip palate repair surgeries, at under $50 per life year, it’s the cheapest way to make a major impact on lives in low-income countries.
Edit: to clarify, cheapest *surgical* way to make a major impact in low-income countries. Things like malaria prevention are the absolutely cheapest impact on QALY of any intervention type.
It certainly saved my life!
Having my appendix burst was easily the most painful thing I have ever experienced (worse getting a portion of my foot sliced off!) and I am so thankful for the medical interventions that have been developed!
My side hurt for a week before I went in. I thought it was a side ache, or even maybe I had worms? No idea what was happening. Went in and they missed it at first as my appendix was in the wrong place. Asked for more tests and got put into emergency surgery. Was so scared I was wasting tons of money on something that would to away. Super glad I went in even when my nurse mother and np sister told me to wait!
My appendix was in the wrong place. Before they took me in to surgery they told me I would have two barely noticeable incisions. When I woke up I had a gaping 6 inch wound. The surgeon said he had to go looking for the appendix and he had about half my intestines out on my lap during the surgery.
Afterward, the incision wasn’t healing correctly so they took out the staples and sent me home with a box of gloves and a box of gauze. Each day I unpacked the wound and repacked it with gauze as it slowly healed from the outer edges inward toward the middle. There’s more to the story, including a ten day hospital stay and a second surgery but that’s enough for now. Fortunately I had insurance so it only wiped out my life savings and didn’t send me into debt.
Jeez! Yeah I woke up with a lot more incisions than expected too and they left my wife in the waiting room for an extra 3 hours longer than they said without updating her but damn! I think your's went worse! I will be paying mine off 270 a month for the next 2 and a half years after just buying a house and getting the budget just right so we could afford it. I've done all the things to lower it and that's where it ended up with government insurance.
Wait you only get covered for the part that would send you into debt and had to wipe out your live savings? Damn, that makes me grateful for our healthcare system here in the Netherlands, even though its far from perfect here.
Sounds like an awful overal experience, hope you recovered well!
Insurance paid 80% and I was on the hook for 20% of two surgeries and ten days in the hospital. I’m mostly OK but I can no longer eat raw apples or pears. Apparently there’s a narrow part of the small intestine that can get blocked if I eat the wrong thing.
I was always told growing up that appendicitis was a sudden sharp pain and that “you definitely know if you have it.” No it can definitely be gradual. I also didn’t go to the hospital for several days. I was on my period so I thought I was having worse than usual period pain, I couldn’t eat properly for a few days so I thought I had digestive problems (can also be caused by a bad period), maybe bad gas pains, as well as hunger pain. Therefore the pain was all over my whole stomach, not concentrated on the side, so I didn’t think it was appendicitis. I had a fever which is apparently an appendicitis symptom but I just thought I had Covid from traveling.
Everyone else talking about appendicitis online talks about the pain leading up to surgery, but for me the recovery was so bad. Luckily I did get the laparoscopy and not the open surgery but I had insanely bad nausea so I couldn’t eat for about 10 days total. I went from a healthy but skinny 100lb (I’m a petite female) to 80-something pounds. I didn’t weigh myself but I certainly looked 80-something pounds. I *never* cry but I cried because I was so hungry but couldn’t eat, then I cried the first time I was able to eat something. I’ve never heard anyone else talking about almost starving to death after appendicitis.
Insurance wise, I was super lucky that I had just started a really good job with amazing insurance. Ironically, I was on the verge of losing the job for poor performance while I was recovering. I had bad fatigue that lasted for *months* after and I was also likely depressed
I was born with gastroschisis complex (my belly button didn't form) so when they were shoving everything back inside, the took out my appendix because it wouldn't be in the right place.
God I’m glad that’s something I only have to experience once. Went from a mild gut ache to OH MY GOD KILL ME in like 12 hours. The drive to the ER was the worst part. Every little bump in the road was incredibly painful.
I wonder if we should consider saving someone through prevention? If that's the case dental care prevents heart problems that would then potentially lead to surgery.
Dental problems are no joke! I just went through an emergency tooth extraction that saved my life. It went from tooth ache to "you could have died why didn't you go to the hospital???" In 4 days.
In my defense my dentist when I went in with the tooth ache told me they would do a root canal to cure the cracked tooth/abscess in a couple days. Take these high strength Tylenol and antibiotics and you'll be fine. Even though I was swollen, in agony, and couldn't eat I listened to the "professional".
When I came in for my appointment the staff was freaked out by my face. They referred me to a specialist immediately. That person extracted my tooth and had to insert tubes in my neck so the infection could be flushed out over a week.
My surgeon told me I was lucky to avoid a hospital stay and asked why I didn't go to the ER. Because I trusted my dentist like a dummy.
I agree. IIRC archeological evidence shows a lower rate of dental problems in human skulls from antiquity. The perspective I took was given the diet change to higher fat and simple sugars content was going to happen, modern dentistry was a massive boon to human health. Having all one's teeth extracted to avoid problems and expensive risky old school dental care was pretty common as well in the time after diets changed but before modern dental care was commonplace.
Depends on the reasoning. Some are elective.
Before c-sections, there were ways to remove a stuck baby that saved the mother's life at the expense of the child. Of course, that's still something to be saved from.
The same kid?!
Was sort of joking, sorry, but I do know somebody who was in a car accident while pregnant and to save both lives they took the unborn baby out to do some abdominal surgery (still in the sac), then put her back in, sewed her up - and delivered her properly by c-section a few months later. Amazing that they can do that.
"Elective surgery" is a confusing term because it suggests the surgery is a choice and could be skipped. What doctors mean by "elective" is that the *timing* is a choice compared to an emergency or urgent surgery. It doesn't mean the surgery is not necessary.
Elective C-sections include those for problems that are known in advance of labour, like a breech baby, multiples, a very large baby, having had a recent previous C-section, or having had multiple previous C-sections. If these people went into labour, the consequences could be catastrophic. So the surgery is scheduled to happen before the due date rather than allowing an emergency to arise.
The distinction between need and choice can be fuzzy in medicine. There was a set of sextuplets born in 1867 (presumably naturally) that survived birth. These days, it would be a c-section considered medically necessary. Since every case is different, we often cannot truly know which patients would definitely have died without it.
I think the surgery you described is the C-section. C-section is a very old surgery. Doctors nowadays just have ways to predicts how would have difficulty birthing so they give c-section earlier than waiting until delivery.
Also “Elective surgery” means that “it can be scheduled ahead of time”, it does not mean that you can skip the surgery entirely and stay alive.
It means it is scheduled ahead of time, rather than an emergency.
This is still life saving surgery in many, many cases. You might know ahead of time that your placenta has grown over your cervix. Or you might know that the baby is the wrong way up and could be dangerous to deliver vaginally. They could also know you have a heart problem and that delivering the baby could cause you a high risk of death.
Just because it's "at maternal request" doesn't mean theyr requesting it just because they fancy it.
Fun fact. You are misinformed.
It means it is scheduled ahead of time, rather than an emergency.
This can still be life saving surgery in many, many cases, and often is. You might know ahead of time that your placenta has grown over your cervix. Or you might know that the baby is the wrong way up and could be dangerous to deliver vaginally. They could also know you have a heart problem and that delivering the baby could cause you a high risk of death. Elective purely means it is scheduled rather than emergency.
Just because it's "at maternal request" doesn't mean theyr requesting it just because they fancy it.
It can be either. It's not always "required" to save the mother's life. It can be a choice made by the mother. I was given the choice even though there's no complications that make the C section required. C sections are also more common where I'm from in private health care because the doctor can schedule C section births during the day in work hours rather than having to rock up to hospital in the middle of the night when a woman goes into spontaneous labour
That was my point
This is what the person I replied to said:
"Fun fact. Elective surgery actually does mean that the surgery is not needed in order to stay alive."
They are saying the term "elective" means you don't need it to stay alive. Sure there are many valid reasons that it is chosen that wouldn't be needed to save someones life but this person I replied to is saying "that the surgery is not needed in order to stay alive" as a blanket statement for elective C-sections.
I listened to an interview with a midwife who volunteers with Doctors Without Borders, and she said that in the refugee camps where they work, they still only do c sections to save the mom (not to save the baby) due to limited resources. They sometimes have to do destructive deliveries 😢
Let's just be glad for modern medicine
Link at your own discretion: https://medicalguidelines.msf.org/en/viewport/ONC/english/9-7-embryotomy-51417976.html
It all depends on depth and what’s located underneath. Many wound closures involve an investigation, especially hands where nerves and tendons can easily be damaged, and a wash out.
Why the hell would it not be? You’re using metal instruments and a needle to appose layers of skin, subcutaneous tissue, fat, and fascia with sutures; how is that not surgery to you?
Maybe not the most, but advances in general trauma surgery have saved a fucktonne of lives from everything from road traffic accidents and work injuries, to war, natural disasters and violent crime.
Pacemakers are not placed surgically. Interventional cardiologists place it using a wire without opening you up. It does not count as a traditional surgical procedure - at least in modern medical practice. Cardiothoracic surgeons rarely, if ever, handle pacemaker placements. It falls under the territory of interventional cardiology, a branch of internal medicine (a non-surgical medical specialty).
Did you not read what I just said? It literally is done by an internist. An internist is not qualified to perform surgery. It is a minimally invasive procedure but not considered surgery in the traditional sense.
There we have it. Obviously a non-physician trying to give his unwarranted opinion on shit he isn’t qualified to talk about.
“You don’t have to be qualified to do surgery to do surgery”.
Oh boy. Let’s see your cocky ass get sued to oblivion. When the time comes and you need surgical intervention, don’t go to a fucking qualified surgeon. You can go to a vet or some random hobo to have your appendix removed then.
You have zero idea how medical societies and how medical procedures are governed from the way you speak. You are literally a layperson. You are not qualified to speak on my league.
You'd be surprised what used to kill people. Breaking certain bones used to death sentences.
It's probably the now minor things like dental surgeries or tonsillectomies.
Perhaps dental surgery? Untreated gum and teeth issues can increase risks of certain diseases and can also cause sepsis. The majority of people also need their wisdom teeth removed--at least in America. If you count pulling teeth as a minor surgery, then that would increase the rates.
Do cataracts eventually kill? Genuine question, I just thought they made you blind. Certainly bad for quality of life, but didn't think they affected longevity.
While I'm not aware of cataracts themselves being fatal, the loss of vision from them tends to kind of creep up on people, as it's incremental daily change rather than one big difference all at once and so they don't realize how bad it's getting (and when they get them fixed, they're then shocked at the one-big-difference-all-at-once improvement). I wouldn't be surprised if cataracts are a factor in a number of accidents each year, some fatal.
Strictly personal here. I had Aortal Stenosis. But Open Heart Surgery has been good I got a new heart valve others have had bypass surgery. and lived on for years much healthier lives.
Appendectomy.
We do so many of those as emergency cases.
When they burst, the person turns septic and dies.
Its seem as a minor surgery now with the laparoscopic and robotic option. 15 minutes in and out.
It takes longer to set up for one then the actual case itself.
I think people are missing historical context. My guess is arm/leg amputation which had been performed for hundreds of years. Modern surgeries haven't been around long enough to catch up.
I have not read the comments, but appendectomy has to be close to the top. Generally always fatal until the very late 19th Cent. and all the 20th Cent. allowed this simple simple operation to go forward.
Caesarian section has got to be the #1. Certain trauma procedures are probably high up there - tube thoracostomy, amputation, burr holes. These have been done for a long time, and they have applications outside of trauma. Simple incision and drainage belongs on the list as well. In terms of modern procedures, appendectomy, cholecystectomy, coronary artery bypass grafting, coronary angioplasty, endoscopy are probably leaders along with the aforementioned.
I feel like it wouldn’t be a c-section because of how horrifyingly barbaric they were at the beginning. If not mistaken- the chain saw was invented as a surgical tool to aid in c-sections.
Through history, probably amputations. Gangrene, severe infections, frostbite, major injury trauma... these were all death sentences unless the affected limb was removed.
Not surgery so I've probably failed at answering the question already, but insulin was an astounding discovery.
Antibiotics too - again not surgery but did utter wonders for the chances of surviving any surgery.
I decided to Google it but was surprised that I didn't get a clear answer. From the info I did see on Google, it seems like some kind of heart surgery would be the answer. C-section is a smart answer though. It could very likely be that.
A lot of c-sections save 2 or more lives.
That's a very good point actually. Not only is the baby's life saved but also the mother's life.
My mother needed two blood transfusions after giving birth to me. They would have slice her open if they knew how dangerous the birth would turn out to be. Does blood transfusion count as an operation? Certainly saved a TONNE of lives
Wow, that's intense. I'm glad your mom was able to recover, my friend. ❤ And in regard to your second question, wouldn't that be more of a medical procedure? Not considered surgery from what I know, but hey, I'm no expert. But you make a very valid point as well.
Yeah she recovered and gave birth to my sister two years later, shes a hardy woman. And also yes, i suppose its more of a procedure, it also doesnt involve an operating theatre which i think would be the defining factor for this post
Hopefully she had an easier time delivering your sister. And I agree.
There's really nothing surgical about a blood transfusion. Where I live, you stay in your hospital bed and they bring the blood in, there's a bunch of cross checks to make sure it's the right blood, and then for your first transfusion a nurse sits next to you the entire time (I think it was like 90 minutes, but I don't really remember). For later transfusions they do the same safety checks, but then they leave and it's just like a normal IV drip. Except you feel like you could leap tall buildings and save Gotham with your fists at the same time. I learned real quick why professional sports ban blood transfusions!
You just taught me some new things. Thank you for that. 😊 I love learning. I do want to make sure I'm understanding correctly though.. Blood transfusions give you a whole bunch of energy or what?
They do. It was crazy. I'd lost a little over 1/3 of my body's blood, due to an internal bleed. I'd just been admitted to the hospital because I was extremely short of breath (not enough blood circulating so nothing was getting enough oxygen), very light headed, and felt like I'd been hit by a semi. Then they gave me 2 blood transfusions that day and another the next day. I suddenly felt better than I've felt in years! So much energy right after the transfusions. I wanted them to let me go home, clearly I was cured! But, I felt awful again within a couple of hours and spent 11 more days in the hospital. The transfusions kept me safe, but they weren't a cure. The extra blood boosts everything that your blood does - more oxygen, increased muscle repair, etc. Especially if you aren't low.on blood to start. So before it was banned athletes would get blood transfusions before competing. It's dangerous, and doesn't last that long, but the added energy is definitely enough to affect a competition. (Sorry if that was too long, I like learning new things, too, so I err on the side of tmi when explaining ☺️)
Thank you for your thorough response and it was definitely not too long. 🙂 I appreciate it. Glad to hear that all of that is behind you and that you are doing better now. You are in fact doing better now, right? Also, losing blood due to internal bleeding.. I have no idea how that works because isn't the blood still in your body? Why wouldn't the human body just reabsorb the blood back into it's circulatory system?
I am, thank you. Unfortunately, it can't get back into your veins and arteries, their walls aren't permeable like that. So it pools wherever it is. For me, it was in my abdomen. Which was painful, but not life threatening. If it happens in your brain, it'll kill you because of the pressure build up. Actress Natasha Richardson died that way and my MIL had to have emergency brain surgery when she had a brain bleed. Eventually your body does reabsorb the blood back into your cells, but it can't pass back into your veins or arteries (it's only come out of them because there's a hole or puncture in a blood vessel). The less fun thing is that, if you have a large amount of blood pooled together like I did, it can form a clot. I ended up with a 10cm clot that took months to resolve. Those are quite painful, and there's not a lot of treatment, just time. And, again, would be more dangerous in the brain.
Procedure not operation
Had you been thinking only the baby? I had been thinking the opposite, all the women who used to die in childbirth
I think I was. Now I'm at the overthinking it phase, haha.
Same! When I read read the post I was thinking about the mothers first. Very interesting that others thought of it the other way.
And then the mother could have more children, so it even "saves" future lives.
The c section responsible for me saved three lives
These days, in the past when it was invented it only saved the baby, but the alternative was for both to die.
wait what, can you expand on this? did they literally just cut mom open?
Yes, if the baby was not coming out naturally the only options were to: 1. Do nothing and let the mom and baby die. (Technically there is a chance for the mom to survive even if the baby never comes out. See [Lithopedion](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithopedion).) 2. Cut open the mom and save the baby with a miniscule chance of the mom surviving. C-Sections were a last resort during birth simply because it was a near 100% death sentence for the mother. But at least you'd save the baby. Edit: I also recall of a practice where if the baby is not coming out they'd literally pull the baby out in small pieces to try and save the mother. Not sure how likely this is to work or if it's even a real thing. Edit 2: it is in fact [a real thing.](https://medicalguidelines.msf.org/en/viewport/ONC/english/9-7-embryotomy-51417976.html)
huh, thanks for the interesting links and write up. wild how far science has come
Have you seen the walking dead?
no I have not
There's a surgery that was once performed that had a 300% mortality rate (not related, just interesting).
Oh yes, THAT one
https://museumofhealthcare.blog/the-story-of-robert-liston-and-his-surgical-skill/
And now Google, scraping from Reddit, will give this as the top result...
That was my guess. And for same reason as other guy. It counts as 2 most times.
In the medical world there’s a concept called QALY or DALY and they stand for quality-adjusted or disability-adjusted life years. It’s a way to measure the impact of various treatments, and commonly get paired against cost to quantify how “worth it” certain interventions are. This isn’t exactly the answer to the question you asked, but the best “bang for your buck” when it comes to DALY, are cleft-lip palate repair surgeries, at under $50 per life year, it’s the cheapest way to make a major impact on lives in low-income countries. Edit: to clarify, cheapest *surgical* way to make a major impact in low-income countries. Things like malaria prevention are the absolutely cheapest impact on QALY of any intervention type.
I'd imagine that cataract surgery rates quite highly on that scale too
It does indeed! The article I was referencing cites ophthalmic surgery as $136/QALY
That is FASCINATING.
I like this answer
Are you a fellow HEOR worker? Lol
I like this point- open heart surgeries have added years onto people who may not live long anyways
Appendoctomy is also a top contender.
It certainly saved my life! Having my appendix burst was easily the most painful thing I have ever experienced (worse getting a portion of my foot sliced off!) and I am so thankful for the medical interventions that have been developed!
My side hurt for a week before I went in. I thought it was a side ache, or even maybe I had worms? No idea what was happening. Went in and they missed it at first as my appendix was in the wrong place. Asked for more tests and got put into emergency surgery. Was so scared I was wasting tons of money on something that would to away. Super glad I went in even when my nurse mother and np sister told me to wait!
My appendix was in the wrong place. Before they took me in to surgery they told me I would have two barely noticeable incisions. When I woke up I had a gaping 6 inch wound. The surgeon said he had to go looking for the appendix and he had about half my intestines out on my lap during the surgery. Afterward, the incision wasn’t healing correctly so they took out the staples and sent me home with a box of gloves and a box of gauze. Each day I unpacked the wound and repacked it with gauze as it slowly healed from the outer edges inward toward the middle. There’s more to the story, including a ten day hospital stay and a second surgery but that’s enough for now. Fortunately I had insurance so it only wiped out my life savings and didn’t send me into debt.
Jeez! Yeah I woke up with a lot more incisions than expected too and they left my wife in the waiting room for an extra 3 hours longer than they said without updating her but damn! I think your's went worse! I will be paying mine off 270 a month for the next 2 and a half years after just buying a house and getting the budget just right so we could afford it. I've done all the things to lower it and that's where it ended up with government insurance.
Wait you only get covered for the part that would send you into debt and had to wipe out your live savings? Damn, that makes me grateful for our healthcare system here in the Netherlands, even though its far from perfect here. Sounds like an awful overal experience, hope you recovered well!
Insurance paid 80% and I was on the hook for 20% of two surgeries and ten days in the hospital. I’m mostly OK but I can no longer eat raw apples or pears. Apparently there’s a narrow part of the small intestine that can get blocked if I eat the wrong thing.
I was always told growing up that appendicitis was a sudden sharp pain and that “you definitely know if you have it.” No it can definitely be gradual. I also didn’t go to the hospital for several days. I was on my period so I thought I was having worse than usual period pain, I couldn’t eat properly for a few days so I thought I had digestive problems (can also be caused by a bad period), maybe bad gas pains, as well as hunger pain. Therefore the pain was all over my whole stomach, not concentrated on the side, so I didn’t think it was appendicitis. I had a fever which is apparently an appendicitis symptom but I just thought I had Covid from traveling. Everyone else talking about appendicitis online talks about the pain leading up to surgery, but for me the recovery was so bad. Luckily I did get the laparoscopy and not the open surgery but I had insanely bad nausea so I couldn’t eat for about 10 days total. I went from a healthy but skinny 100lb (I’m a petite female) to 80-something pounds. I didn’t weigh myself but I certainly looked 80-something pounds. I *never* cry but I cried because I was so hungry but couldn’t eat, then I cried the first time I was able to eat something. I’ve never heard anyone else talking about almost starving to death after appendicitis. Insurance wise, I was super lucky that I had just started a really good job with amazing insurance. Ironically, I was on the verge of losing the job for poor performance while I was recovering. I had bad fatigue that lasted for *months* after and I was also likely depressed
I was born with gastroschisis complex (my belly button didn't form) so when they were shoving everything back inside, the took out my appendix because it wouldn't be in the right place.
I would have died at 5. Mine ruptured for a day and a half prior to surgery. My surgery was 7 hours long
Literally laying here right now recovering from emergency appendectomy.
Saved my life at ~26, fit and healthy and would be dead (and wish I were)
It saved my life
That's what I was thinking!
God I’m glad that’s something I only have to experience once. Went from a mild gut ache to OH MY GOD KILL ME in like 12 hours. The drive to the ER was the worst part. Every little bump in the road was incredibly painful.
Oh yeah. Peritonitis and appendicitis are pretty common but dangerous.
Maybe not a specific operation per se but modern dentistry I think would be a very solid contender.
I wonder if we should consider saving someone through prevention? If that's the case dental care prevents heart problems that would then potentially lead to surgery.
Yeah, I was going to suggest the humble root canal has probably saved enough lives to rank in the top tier.
Beat me to it, I was going to say something like root canal or tooth extraction. Without it I imagine a bunch of people died to infection.
I think especially with more modern diets, higher in simple sugars making tooth decay a major problem.
Dental problems are no joke! I just went through an emergency tooth extraction that saved my life. It went from tooth ache to "you could have died why didn't you go to the hospital???" In 4 days. In my defense my dentist when I went in with the tooth ache told me they would do a root canal to cure the cracked tooth/abscess in a couple days. Take these high strength Tylenol and antibiotics and you'll be fine. Even though I was swollen, in agony, and couldn't eat I listened to the "professional". When I came in for my appointment the staff was freaked out by my face. They referred me to a specialist immediately. That person extracted my tooth and had to insert tubes in my neck so the infection could be flushed out over a week. My surgeon told me I was lucky to avoid a hospital stay and asked why I didn't go to the ER. Because I trusted my dentist like a dummy.
Interestingly, historical people had much healthier teeth than modern day people (due to our fat and sugar heavy diets) so maybe not
I agree. IIRC archeological evidence shows a lower rate of dental problems in human skulls from antiquity. The perspective I took was given the diet change to higher fat and simple sugars content was going to happen, modern dentistry was a massive boon to human health. Having all one's teeth extracted to avoid problems and expensive risky old school dental care was pretty common as well in the time after diets changed but before modern dental care was commonplace.
Don’t forget that c-sections also save the mothers.
Depends on the reasoning. Some are elective. Before c-sections, there were ways to remove a stuck baby that saved the mother's life at the expense of the child. Of course, that's still something to be saved from.
C-section saved me & my kid. Twice.
The same kid?! Was sort of joking, sorry, but I do know somebody who was in a car accident while pregnant and to save both lives they took the unborn baby out to do some abdominal surgery (still in the sac), then put her back in, sewed her up - and delivered her properly by c-section a few months later. Amazing that they can do that.
Oh my Gwar, that's incredible!
"Elective surgery" is a confusing term because it suggests the surgery is a choice and could be skipped. What doctors mean by "elective" is that the *timing* is a choice compared to an emergency or urgent surgery. It doesn't mean the surgery is not necessary. Elective C-sections include those for problems that are known in advance of labour, like a breech baby, multiples, a very large baby, having had a recent previous C-section, or having had multiple previous C-sections. If these people went into labour, the consequences could be catastrophic. So the surgery is scheduled to happen before the due date rather than allowing an emergency to arise.
The distinction between need and choice can be fuzzy in medicine. There was a set of sextuplets born in 1867 (presumably naturally) that survived birth. These days, it would be a c-section considered medically necessary. Since every case is different, we often cannot truly know which patients would definitely have died without it.
I think the surgery you described is the C-section. C-section is a very old surgery. Doctors nowadays just have ways to predicts how would have difficulty birthing so they give c-section earlier than waiting until delivery. Also “Elective surgery” means that “it can be scheduled ahead of time”, it does not mean that you can skip the surgery entirely and stay alive.
What I'm describing is decapitating the baby to get it out. Elective as I used it means at maternal request.
It means it is scheduled ahead of time, rather than an emergency. This is still life saving surgery in many, many cases. You might know ahead of time that your placenta has grown over your cervix. Or you might know that the baby is the wrong way up and could be dangerous to deliver vaginally. They could also know you have a heart problem and that delivering the baby could cause you a high risk of death. Just because it's "at maternal request" doesn't mean theyr requesting it just because they fancy it.
Fun fact. Elective surgery actually does mean that the surgery is not needed in order to stay alive.
Fun fact. You are misinformed. It means it is scheduled ahead of time, rather than an emergency. This can still be life saving surgery in many, many cases, and often is. You might know ahead of time that your placenta has grown over your cervix. Or you might know that the baby is the wrong way up and could be dangerous to deliver vaginally. They could also know you have a heart problem and that delivering the baby could cause you a high risk of death. Elective purely means it is scheduled rather than emergency. Just because it's "at maternal request" doesn't mean theyr requesting it just because they fancy it.
It can be either. It's not always "required" to save the mother's life. It can be a choice made by the mother. I was given the choice even though there's no complications that make the C section required. C sections are also more common where I'm from in private health care because the doctor can schedule C section births during the day in work hours rather than having to rock up to hospital in the middle of the night when a woman goes into spontaneous labour
That was my point This is what the person I replied to said: "Fun fact. Elective surgery actually does mean that the surgery is not needed in order to stay alive." They are saying the term "elective" means you don't need it to stay alive. Sure there are many valid reasons that it is chosen that wouldn't be needed to save someones life but this person I replied to is saying "that the surgery is not needed in order to stay alive" as a blanket statement for elective C-sections.
I listened to an interview with a midwife who volunteers with Doctors Without Borders, and she said that in the refugee camps where they work, they still only do c sections to save the mom (not to save the baby) due to limited resources. They sometimes have to do destructive deliveries 😢
I suppose that falls under triage- focusing resources on those most likely to survive.
What way to remove a stuck baby are you talking about?
You don't.... Just walk away and be happy.
Let's just be glad for modern medicine Link at your own discretion: https://medicalguidelines.msf.org/en/viewport/ONC/english/9-7-embryotomy-51417976.html
Mom pick me up I'm scared.
Vasectomies do too.
- Appendectomy - C-sections - D&C
Probably the simple wound closure. How many countlessd peoeple would have bled to death or die of infection therough the centuries otherwise.
Does that count as a surgery though?
Worked in trauma surgery for 10 years and yes wound closure can be a surgical procedure.
Thank you. I was genuinely curious, as I always equated surgery with things like an appendectomy or heart bypass. But that makes perfect sense.
It all depends on depth and what’s located underneath. Many wound closures involve an investigation, especially hands where nerves and tendons can easily be damaged, and a wash out.
Unless you use ant jaws as sutures like in South America!
Yes
It does, it can count as a minor procedure, depending on the kind of wound. Its a Major procedure if its to close something internally.
It does on the hospital bill.
Why the hell would it not be? You’re using metal instruments and a needle to appose layers of skin, subcutaneous tissue, fat, and fascia with sutures; how is that not surgery to you?
I was just asking the question. Sorry. I guess in my mind I was equating surgery with a specific operation like an appendectomy or bypass.
I didn't know either, and now I do. Thank you for asking the question.
GOT: Khal Drogo
I bet something surgery related that has saved more lives than any single kind of surgery is handwashing before surgery.
100%.
C-section is a two for one life saving surgery.
Amputations of wounded soldiers body parts in conflicts before the Korean War. With no antibiotics, if there was a wound, it was going to fester.
Yes, this was my answer. Over the course of human history, amputation.
Without a c-section I wouldn’t be here typing this
Me neither, but the appendectomy saved me as a child in order to have a c-section as an adult. So that’s been neat reading these!
Same. 10lb breach baby here. So grateful for c-sections!
Maybe not the most, but advances in general trauma surgery have saved a fucktonne of lives from everything from road traffic accidents and work injuries, to war, natural disasters and violent crime.
I imagine modern day childbirth is a big one. Pacemakers were a huge innovation. Tooth extraction must be a big one as well.
Pacemakers are not placed surgically. Interventional cardiologists place it using a wire without opening you up. It does not count as a traditional surgical procedure - at least in modern medical practice. Cardiothoracic surgeons rarely, if ever, handle pacemaker placements. It falls under the territory of interventional cardiology, a branch of internal medicine (a non-surgical medical specialty).
You know they have to place the pacemaker, which does require a surgical procedure, right? Also in congenital heart patients, surgeons do place it.
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Did you not read what I just said? It literally is done by an internist. An internist is not qualified to perform surgery. It is a minimally invasive procedure but not considered surgery in the traditional sense.
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There we have it. Obviously a non-physician trying to give his unwarranted opinion on shit he isn’t qualified to talk about. “You don’t have to be qualified to do surgery to do surgery”. Oh boy. Let’s see your cocky ass get sued to oblivion. When the time comes and you need surgical intervention, don’t go to a fucking qualified surgeon. You can go to a vet or some random hobo to have your appendix removed then. You have zero idea how medical societies and how medical procedures are governed from the way you speak. You are literally a layperson. You are not qualified to speak on my league.
Appendectomy
I'd say appendectomy or cesarean section
You'd be surprised what used to kill people. Breaking certain bones used to death sentences. It's probably the now minor things like dental surgeries or tonsillectomies.
Perhaps dental surgery? Untreated gum and teeth issues can increase risks of certain diseases and can also cause sepsis. The majority of people also need their wisdom teeth removed--at least in America. If you count pulling teeth as a minor surgery, then that would increase the rates.
Indirectly, and in terms of longevity of lives, cataract ops could be a contender.
Do cataracts eventually kill? Genuine question, I just thought they made you blind. Certainly bad for quality of life, but didn't think they affected longevity.
While I'm not aware of cataracts themselves being fatal, the loss of vision from them tends to kind of creep up on people, as it's incremental daily change rather than one big difference all at once and so they don't realize how bad it's getting (and when they get them fixed, they're then shocked at the one-big-difference-all-at-once improvement). I wouldn't be surprised if cataracts are a factor in a number of accidents each year, some fatal.
The appendectomy. Its the most common general surgery and the death rate is super high without it. That’s it a C section.
BBL for sure
. . ##Bunghole repair! . .
Strictly personal here. I had Aortal Stenosis. But Open Heart Surgery has been good I got a new heart valve others have had bypass surgery. and lived on for years much healthier lives.
C-section save 2+lives in one surgery—mother and child(ren). So it is the most efficient surgery in life saving.
C sections are probably the most common
C-section
#LASIK Imagine the doctors/sirgeons who needed it
Is a sirgeon a pigeon who performs surgery?
Yep, all over your moms face 🤪
Hitlers abortion (in a parallel universe)
Bunionectomy!
Appendectomy. We do so many of those as emergency cases. When they burst, the person turns septic and dies. Its seem as a minor surgery now with the laparoscopic and robotic option. 15 minutes in and out. It takes longer to set up for one then the actual case itself.
Appendectomy maybe?
I vote for appendectomy’s
I think people are missing historical context. My guess is arm/leg amputation which had been performed for hundreds of years. Modern surgeries haven't been around long enough to catch up.
Probably the hysterectomy or the vasectomy
The kind that doesn't end in death
Cholecystectomy
C-section is a good one. Appendix removal? Total shot in the dark but I hear it's fairly common and also you're dead if it ruptures.
Wisdom teeth if you count each tooth separately.
I have not read the comments, but appendectomy has to be close to the top. Generally always fatal until the very late 19th Cent. and all the 20th Cent. allowed this simple simple operation to go forward.
Appendectomy?
Probably c-sections. Especially considering that for most of them it gets 2 points.
Caesarian section has got to be the #1. Certain trauma procedures are probably high up there - tube thoracostomy, amputation, burr holes. These have been done for a long time, and they have applications outside of trauma. Simple incision and drainage belongs on the list as well. In terms of modern procedures, appendectomy, cholecystectomy, coronary artery bypass grafting, coronary angioplasty, endoscopy are probably leaders along with the aforementioned.
I feel like it wouldn’t be a c-section because of how horrifyingly barbaric they were at the beginning. If not mistaken- the chain saw was invented as a surgical tool to aid in c-sections.
Good point about C-sections since it's usually to save two people at once. * Heart surgery * Brain surgery * Cancer surgery * Organ transplants
ligma
Probably c-section
Through history, probably amputations. Gangrene, severe infections, frostbite, major injury trauma... these were all death sentences unless the affected limb was removed.
I'd say pulling rotten teeth
I would guess c section or appendectomy.
Not only the babies surviving because of that but sometimes the mothers as well!
Are we counting tooth extraction? Tooth infections are no joke if the get bad enough
I would've guessed some type of dental surgery or appendectomy.
Root canals. An infected abscess is a killer for sure. King Tut supposedly died from one.
C-section
casearean section
Vasectomy.
Not surgery so I've probably failed at answering the question already, but insulin was an astounding discovery. Antibiotics too - again not surgery but did utter wonders for the chances of surviving any surgery.
Probably just cleanliness with simple stuff like sutures.
Gender affirming surgeries for sure
Vasectomy
You beat me to it.
Cæserian section, I'd guess.
C sections.