Two surgeons after a 32-hour surgery to remove brain tumors

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around a photo of two surgeons after a lengthy surgery to remove brain tumors, raising questions about surgical practices, attire, and hygiene standards in operating rooms, particularly in a Chinese context. Participants explore the implications of the surgeons' footwear and the conditions under which such a long surgery might occur.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express skepticism about the article's accuracy, particularly regarding the classification of an aneurysm as a tumor.
  • Concerns are raised about the appropriateness of surgeons wearing sandals during surgery, with arguments about hygiene and support.
  • Participants question the protocol for long surgeries, suggesting that another surgeon would typically take over if one became excessively fatigued.
  • Some argue that the photo may appear staged and that cultural differences in dress standards could explain the footwear choice.
  • There is a discussion about the cleanliness of operating room floors and the types of footwear typically used by medical personnel.
  • Participants share personal observations and experiences related to surgical attire and hygiene practices in operating rooms.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the appropriateness of the surgeons' footwear or the accuracy of the article. Multiple competing views remain regarding surgical practices and hygiene standards.

Contextual Notes

There are unresolved questions about the definitions of medical terms used in the article, the cultural context of surgical practices, and the specific hygiene protocols in different operating environments.

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Surgeons wear sandles in the operating room? Really?
 
Yeah, something isn't right about that article. This quote from one of the surgeons in the article seems suspect too -- since when is an aneurysm considered a tumor?
"The patient had both an aneurysm and brain-stem hemangioblastoma. We needed to remove both tumors in one surgery.
 
Granted, the photo does look a bit staged. But the hospital is in China, so dress standards may differ from those applying in the West. Translation involving medical terms is likely to be imperfect, but perhaps a couple of the tumors had caused an aneurysm, and the cluster needed to be attended to as one.
 
Normally, I think another surgeon would step in and take over if someone were that tired.
Furthermore, if they were falling down tired, their manual dexterity would probably have declined before that which would require a replacement surgeon.
 
Wearing flip flops during a lengthy surgery?? No. First, not hygenic, second, not supportive. Fake photo.
 
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BillTre said:
Normally, I think another surgeon would step in and take over if someone were that tired.
Furthermore, if they were falling down tired, their manual dexterity would probably have declined before that which would require a replacement surgeon.

Don't surgeons work in shifts when they have to do very long surgeries?

I don't know any of the backstory behind that photo, I saw a link to it on reddit and decided to share it here.
 
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Confirmed. Chinese surgeons' preferred footwear is the comfortable open sandal. :oldsmile:

02-Liang-Yaoyi.jpg

Surgeons bow before child whose last wish was to donate organs.

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Surgeons remove 76cm of youth's intestine to relieve severe constipation, its weight 16kgs.
 

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Evo said:
Wearing flip flops during a lengthy surgery?? No. First, not hygenic, second, not supportive. Fake photo.

Why would that be less hygienic than any other type of shoe? I don't think there are any special shoes for use in operating rooms; and I don't remember seeing anyone changing shoes when walking in/out of the room meaning surgeons are presumably usually wearing what everyone else working at a hospitals would wear (which as far as I am aware is usually shoes that look more or less like Crocs)

Some googling:
https://www.oxypas.com/en-gb/sector/operating-room

Years ago I watched a documentary about orthopedic surgery; and they all wore wellies because the floor tended to get...well...messy
 
  • #10
[edit] In addition to the obvious basic functionality and doctor protection advantages of shoes...[/edit]
f95toli said:
Why would that be less hygienic than any other type of shoe? I don't think there are any special shoes for use in operating rooms;
The primary particulate contaminant in a clean room is the same as in your house: human skin. You're probably thinking of people tracking dirt into the room with their shoes, which is why even for only moderately clean rooms, you wear shoe covers.
https://www.halyardhealth.com.au/pr...-protective-equipment-for-operating-room.aspx

I would think that the longer the surgery, the higher the contamination/infection risk and therefore the greater the critical of maintaining the environment.

...my experience is mostly in pharma manufacturing, but I would be surprised if surgery had more lax requirements (the HVAC is at least as rigorous).

And yeah; I don't see why keeping a single team would be important here. I would think that surgery requires a lot of discrete tasks that would lend itself to swapping teams periodically. I would not want a surgeon operating on my after 30 hours of no sleep!
 
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  • #11
f95toli said:
Why would that be less hygienic than any other type of shoe? I don't think there are any special shoes for use in operating rooms; and I don't remember seeing anyone changing shoes when walking in/out of the room meaning surgeons are presumably usually wearing what everyone else working at a hospitals would wear (which as far as I am aware is usually shoes that look more or less like Crocs)

Some googling:
https://www.oxypas.com/en-gb/sector/operating-room

Years ago I watched a documentary about orthopedic surgery; and they all wore wellies because the floor tended to get...well...messy
The foot covering,I bet, is used to protect against that which might drip onto the foot area, and it's throw away, so no clean up for shoe wear afterwards.
Protection for the wearer also should be considered, on the chance that the patient can have any type of disease, a surgeon now wears full protective gear, including a face mask at times to guard against spraying blood for example.
Now one sees dentists and assistants, police, first responders, wearing gear for their own protection rather than for the patient.
Go back to HIV scare several years ago and the fear produced, and the ensuing protective remedies - ie. mouth to mouth respiration no longer recommended as a means to save a life.
( As an aside, fast food joints now issue gloves and hair nets, for food handling so the client feels being looked after - yet the same person handles the money and the till, and the food )
 
  • #12
NascentOxygen said:
Confirmed. Chinese surgeons' preferred footwear is the comfortable open sandal.

View attachment 217835
Surgeons bow before child whose last wish was to donate organs.

View attachment 217836
Surgeons remove 76cm of youth's intestine to relieve constipation.
That is one expanded blood vessel ready to burst. No wonder they had to operate and take it out.
:biggrin:
 
  • #14
As a student, when I observed in theatre everyone pulled on a type of calico booty over their regular shoe. They were just cotton cloth so felt slippery on the vinyl floor and I was glad to take them off as soon as I could. These booties went into the laundry bin to be washed and reused. Similar items seem to be absent from the photos showing Chinese theatre personnel.

The passage of trolley wheels in and out keep the operating theatre floor anything but hygienically clean.
 
  • #16
NascentOxygen said:
The passage of trolley wheels in and out keep the operating theatre floor anything but hygienically clean.
Every isolation procedure and separation zone provides some incremental improvement. The trolley doesn't roll in from the driveway, so it is cleaner than the shoes you came in wearing even if there is some overlap on the floors they touch.

I would hope at least that the sandles those Chinese surgeons were wearing never leave the clean boundary of the surgical suite.
 
  • #17
f95toli said:
Why would that be less hygienic than any other type of shoe? I don't think there are any special shoes for use in operating rooms; and I don't remember seeing anyone changing shoes when walking in/out of the room meaning surgeons are presumably usually wearing what everyone else working at a hospitals would wear (which as far as I am aware is usually shoes that look more or less like Crocs)

Some googling:
https://www.oxypas.com/en-gb/sector/operating-room

Years ago I watched a documentary about orthopedic surgery; and they all wore wellies because the floor tended to get...well...messy
They usually wear hygenic shoe covers.
 

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