Doctor Explains How Surgeons Deal With Unexpected Findings!

[aquariancat]

This actually happened to my SO. Got a hernia repair and surgeon found & took out a tumor. In this case, we were grateful.

[alexandermarken]

I had an operation to trim my bursa and resolve shoulder impingment, During the operation the surgeon found a 12 to 3 tear of the rotator cuff and repaired it. I was told when I woke up and I was so grateful to him. I went from disabled to able to work. Thankyou Dr Shaw.

[nalinea]

I was opened up for appendix removal, stomach pain, lower chest pain etc. was pretty through the roof. They found a torsioned ovary that had evaded detection during imaging (during ultrasound the tech commented he couldn't find my left ovary) because it wasn't at all where it was supposed to be. Like imagine an ovary behind the lungs, it was waaaayyy too high up. The surgeon happened to notice a weird tube which turned out to be an elongated fallopian tube, followed it and went "well I'm no OBGYN but ovaries shouldn't be black".

Yoink went the ovary since it was far beyond saving. When I woke up I was very glad that both reasons for my stomach and chest pains were taken care of. My hormonal balance is also better with just one ovary that's not being screwed with by it's annoying "I'm not like the other ovaries"-sister. Fixed my period issues right up, so I'm not complaining 😂

[StephenBoothUK]

Generally speaking, I’d rather you fix whatever you find than have to open me up again.

[Deupey]

This no joke just happened to me. I went in for ACL reconstruction last week and told my parents beforehand that if they for whatever reason find anything else to fix in there to fix it because I’m already under and it would save a lot of issues later. Woke up, and they found my meniscus was also torn during the initial repair and they repaired that too.

[sono_chi_no_sodium_chlorid]

"No sir, this tumor is very important to me. Don't remove it"

[SwedePotato]

When I had an operation my surgeon included and incidental addendum that I could sign, totally optional. Because it was somewhat of an exploratory surgery and they kind of expected to see things that they didnt on the imaging. They allowed me to say yes I consent to this if it is found, but also gave me guidelines that I could use to tell them to work within. First time I ever felt control on healthcare and was actually happy that a US surgeon wasnt LOOKING for reasons to turn one surgery into 2 more.

[SalMinella]

I remember when I had my appendix out they also found a glossary so that opened a whole new chapter for me.

[daniellebarker]

I had surgery to unbloc my carotid artery ad the doc found another blockage that could have killed me quickly. He removed that blockage as well. I was quite alright with that.

[tanyawinters]

I had told my surgeon to do whatever was needed. He decided to do a little “exploring” because of pain I was having & “something” found on the original CT that he couldn’t see on ultrasound. He went out to ask my mom, whom was my emergency person, if he could remove the extra mass. So happy he went exploring or I would’ve ended up in another surgery is not worse.

[rainbowArsonal]

This happened to my grandma. She had to have emergency surgery to remove her appendix, and while on the operating table they discovered her gallbladder had started to die and turn necrotic. They had to remove it as well and told her later she was lucky to even be alive with this gallbladder inside her

[Trolly.Troll.]

Implied consent. Sometimes it’s written somewhere in the bazillions of forms you sign prior to surgery.

[SophiaTheSophist]

this happened to me during heart surgery. they were going in to do a triple bypass and found that i had a heart valve that was leaking badly and barely functional. they repaired the valve while my chest was open and did two surgeries in one. very grateful to my surgeon.

[omranalqubaisi]

Happened to my dad and he’s surgery went from 2hours to 6 hours which ofc made me worry.. but we were grateful plus the doctor refused to bump up the price.. some doctors are genuinely made for heaven

[muaythaigal]

I had this happen during my second c-section, except I was conscious to give consent. There was MASSIVE scar tissue from my first one. He leaned over the curtain and asked me who did my first one in a very disappointed voice. Apparently it was a hack job. Anyway, he suggested that I let him clean it up and stay under the spinal tap a little longer than expected while he cleaned me up. I haven't had any pain down there since.

[mycoldheart]

This reminds me of an old story on the news. That there was a woman that had surgery and the surgeon imprinted his initials on her organ and sew up her skin. When she went and got the surgery again by another surgeon, they found out and she sued bug time.

[snowps]

A girl I know had a laparoscopy to clean up endometriosis. During her surgery the surgeon noticed that her appendix looked really odd so they removed it during surgery and sent it to pathology. Turns out that it was cancerous and thankfully it hadn't spread and was still entirely contained within the appendix. He saved her life.

[Pama]

My ex had an unexpected finging...he went for a removal of his apendix. When they started the laparoscopy they found out his apendix had rotten and had to cut him open and remove that and parts of his small and big intestines. He was in pain for weeks, but refused to go to the doctor. So anybody, if you have such problems go right away!

[Chlorate]

The surgeon that operated on my mum had a bad day I think. She was _very_ unwell with a number of odd symptoms, she'd fallen down the stairs but her infection markers were sky high, her mental status was severely compromised, and her blood pressure very low. On the CT scan they could see a large mass of fluid, and some subcutaneous emphysema. They suspected to find a large haematoma and a bowel perforation from her fall. Unfortunately they found neither, and actually she was suffering from necrotising fasciitis. It was the worst day of my life, but I really felt for the surgeon that night. It must be awful to open someone up like that and be faced with something that serious, knowing that their only course of action is to remove a large amount of infected flesh from this person's body, and that regardless they're almost certainly going to die.

[HappilyCarnivore]

When they opened me up they found gangrene. But that's because they waited until morning to take out my appendix and it burst sometime in the night. I was borderline septic and they had to remove a fourth of my colon, which wouldn't have happened if they had taken it out when I showed up to the hospital.