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Original poster

Any surgeons about? Why wasn't I wearing knickers?

209 replies

ohwerehalfwaythere · 15/10/2021 22:08

I had laparoscopic surgery for an ovarian cyst this morning. Went into surgery wearing disposable knickers but wasn't when I woke up. It's really bothering me. Can anyone shed any light what would have happened? I'm in England. Thank you

OP posts:
PumpkinsandTea · 16/10/2021 20:16

@Olivia199

Anaesthetic practitioner here - more than likely it was to clean and drape the area. We will prep skin far lower and higher than necessary to ensure we have a good sterile field. Then we have the drapes stuck down. In ovarian/lower abdominal surgery, pants more often than not get in the way. They also, on occasion, will pop a catheter in. You should have been warned about this really. Although it is very standard practice for us and we don't think twice, it is still very invasive as a patient! Normally I ask my patients to pop their pants off before they go under. Hope you heal up well!
"Pop a catheter in" without permission???? WTAF Hmm
PumpkinsandTea · 16/10/2021 20:16

@welshweasel

They will often pop a temporary (in/out) catheter in at the start of the operation and then use a probe up your vagina into your uterus to move it around during the op. Both these are absolutely standard practice.
When the patient is PREGNANT????
Jellyfishnchips · 16/10/2021 20:23

@Olivia199

Anaesthetic practitioner here - more than likely it was to clean and drape the area. We will prep skin far lower and higher than necessary to ensure we have a good sterile field. Then we have the drapes stuck down. In ovarian/lower abdominal surgery, pants more often than not get in the way. They also, on occasion, will pop a catheter in. You should have been warned about this really. Although it is very standard practice for us and we don't think twice, it is still very invasive as a patient! Normally I ask my patients to pop their pants off before they go under. Hope you heal up well!
Sounds like you’ve got the legit answer here from a professional. They should have advised you about what was involved in pre-op though

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LoveGrooveDanceParty · 16/10/2021 20:28

Loving all this ‘popping’ of things into people’s bodies.

Any wonder many people think doctors/surgeons often come with serious personality disorders….

welshweasel · 16/10/2021 21:52

@LoveGrooveDanceParty I guess it just becomes part of the job. Threads like this are useful as it makes us look at our daily work from a different perspective. When you have an operation you’ll have a tube down your trachea, a tube in your vein, multiple tubes in your abdomen, sometimes a tube (drain) left in your abdomen at the end, sometimes drugs put up your bottom, sometimes a tube into your stomach and sometimes a urinalysis catheter (which may or may not be left in at the end of the operation). I don’t see any one of those things as different to the others, but seems like lots would consider a urinary catheter more notable than a catheter in a vein.

lboogy · 17/10/2021 04:22

I've just had a c section. I was told to remove my knickers b4 the op. They cleaned all around my vag even though it wasn't involved in the op.

Olive has given a very good explanation. But like she said , I think the rote nature of the job makes surgeons forget to inform patients of every single thing they do.

I'm grateful to surgeons who dedicate their lives to saving people. I'm less concerned about minor details especially when you know there are loads of ppl in the room so makes it hard for abuse to take place

ivfbabymomma1 · 17/10/2021 04:52

I was completely naked for my breast reduction! Which I also thought was strange though I never asked why.

SwayingInTime · 17/10/2021 05:01

I felt the same after varicose vein surgery, would much rather have gone under with no knickers on. It’s upsetting to ‘wake up’ with your underwear removed, you can’t change that reaction!

partyrings1 · 17/10/2021 05:28

Hi Op

I have had 3 laparoscopies for endometriosis, each time I have been asked to remove my knickers before being wheeled down for theatre then when I have woke up, I've had a thick pad/sanitary towel between my legs.

I haven't ever thought about it, I assumed it was so they could clean the entire area as I always wake up with iodine stains from just below my breasts to my knees (front and back).

Hope this puts your mind at rest, however, I did know I would be knickerless as I removed them on the ward at the surgery teams request.

Hope you recover well xx

Oblomov21 · 17/10/2021 05:30

Interesting thread. Glad I read it. I've had this 3 times, 2 x c-sections, and one recent shoulder operation and each time I woke up and then realised I didn't have any pants on, when I had knowingly gone in with pants, I felt odd and didn't like it.

No one explains these things to go. It's the communication that's lacking. Maybe they just don't realise how some women / most women? Feel about it.

Labyrinth86 · 17/10/2021 11:30

I was supposed to have a cystectomy but chickened out - I didn't want GA. Anyway, when I looked into surgery, I found loads of sources saying it's the norm for the patient to be naked. That was another reason why I decided against it.

Biscoffee · 17/10/2021 16:04

@Labyrinth86

I was supposed to have a cystectomy but chickened out - I didn't want GA. Anyway, when I looked into surgery, I found loads of sources saying it's the norm for the patient to be naked. That was another reason why I decided against it.
I’ve no idea if you’ve gone on to have your surgery or if you still have your cyst. I’m not even aware if a cystectomy is relevant to an ovarian cyst or other types of cysts also. Regardless of that though I really do feel compelled to say if you’ve not had your surgery please reconsider having it done as with an ovarian cyst Drs really can’t tell for definite if a cyst is malignant or not until the get it out and see what it’s made up.

Wakening up without underwear on is absolutely nothing compared to wakening up after surgery with no cervix, no appendix, no uterus, no Fallopian tubes, no lymph nodes and no omentum either. Though also being minus a cyst that’s grown to 6 kgs in weight does have its advantages until your biopsy results come back and you do indeed have an ovarian cancer diagnosis.

Get your bits checked out ladies and keep in mind that having no pants on or being naked when you wake up from surgery very much is the lesser of two evils.

Kendodd · 17/10/2021 16:12

My cousin had some surgery on her stomach when she was about 15, this is going back about 40 years now. She was really worried about them taking her knickers off during surgery and so had sellotaped them on. Bless her!
She still woke up with no knickers on though.

Mischance · 17/10/2021 16:51

I am not sure what the concern about this is.

Is it that you might have been sexually abused? If so, it would be witnessed by a whole tram of people so the risk is so small as to be infinitesimal.

Is there something else that is worrying you about no knickers?

Medics have seen it all before and as far as they are concerned you are just a body to be made better.

Mischance · 17/10/2021 16:52

".... a whole tram....! Grin

Sorry - a whole team.

GinIronic · 17/10/2021 17:21

I hate it when pp state that “it’s ok - because medics have seen it all before”. They haven’t seen the OPs before and she might want to give consent about that and be kept fully informed with all aspects of the surgery - including what happens to underwear.

SirenSays · 17/10/2021 17:33

I hate it when pp state that “it’s ok - because medics have seen it all before”. They haven’t seen the OPs before and she might want to give consent about that and be kept fully informed with all aspects of the surgery - including what happens to underwear

Totally agree with this!

LoveGrooveDanceParty · 17/10/2021 17:59

@Mischance

I am not sure what the concern about this is.

Is it that you might have been sexually abused? If so, it would be witnessed by a whole tram of people so the risk is so small as to be infinitesimal.

Is there something else that is worrying you about no knickers?

Medics have seen it all before and as far as they are concerned you are just a body to be made better.

You really don’t have enough wit or gumption about you to figure out why this might be upsetting for the OP………….?
tinyteepee · 17/10/2021 18:39

The thing is the medical profession DOES have a bit of a murky past when it comes to unconscious women such as having multiple students practice vaginal exams without consent on women who are in for completely unrelated procedures, not saying it still happens over here although it’s certainly still common practice in a lot of America. The fact that you’re in a ‘professional’ setting with lots of other people clearly doesnt make a difference in these instances and has not in the past, when it comes to women and their bodies there’s often this strong attitude that consent and boundaries don’t matter.

I think as a woman you can feel extremely vulnerable and it can be difficult to give complete trust over your body, often with very good reason. It can take a great deal to feel comfortable being completely unconscious and under the care of strangers so not having the process explained properly and consent gone through thoroughly can be very difficult for a lot of women.

elliesmummy19 · 17/10/2021 19:55

I feel like you've had plenty of replies but when I've had surgery (non-gynaecological, on my ankle) I've gone in without underwear on and have been told they will insert a pain relief suppository before I wake up so always assumed that's why I went in with no pants.

Mischance · 17/10/2021 20:31

You really don’t have enough wit or gumption - I do have quite a lot of wit and gumption, but am simply trying to explore what THIS person's concern is about - that is what matters here. How can she receive reassurance if no-one knows precisely what is worrying her?

After many decades working in hospitals I know that sometimes we make assumptions about what is worrying someone and can often be surprised when we find out what their real concern is - it may not be what we think it is. The only way we can help the OP is to know exactly what hers is.

Labyrinth86 · 17/10/2021 23:43

@Biscoffee Thanks for your response. It was an ovarian cyst on my right ovary - I went to the GP insisting I was tested for cancer, they did the blood test to look for CA125 (I think... this was 2017 so memory is hazy). That came back normal so they did watchful waiting and the cyst remained although they thought it was shrinking. The sonographer/radiologist said there was blood in it but not to be alarmed then my GP said she was concerned about it. I went to have my pre-op, signed consent forms, etc. but the surgeon was creepy - he made me feel really uncomfortable and commented on how I was "nice and slim" which I know is probably helpful in terms of surgery but it was the way he said it. It made me feel really nervous about having surgery, being naked and out cold with him doing goodness knows what. I'm currently pregnant and think I still have a cyst on my right ovary although I think they are recurring benign ones because the women who did my baby scans said there was a small cyst (when I mentioned the pain of them pressing on that side) but it was small so they wouldn't have mentioned it. I'm having a c-section in a week - I'm not so worried about that because I'll be awake and my husband will be there so I'll be more aware what is happening despite being naked on a table in front of 6 or 7 people - I wonder if they can take a look when they're in there.

Labyrinth86 · 17/10/2021 23:47

@elliesmummy19

I feel like you've had plenty of replies but when I've had surgery (non-gynaecological, on my ankle) I've gone in without underwear on and have been told they will insert a pain relief suppository before I wake up so always assumed that's why I went in with no pants.
Yes, I've been told the same about my c-section. I'll also need a catheter and I guess the waistband of underwear would get in the way. I do think, much to my initial surprise, being nude in surgery in the norm. I think it's so the medics can react quickly, i.e. they don't have to start removing clothes to administer treatment.
Labyrinth86 · 17/10/2021 23:51

@Biscoffee Further to my response about me, I hope that you are doing well if your post was autobiographical 💐

LoveGrooveDanceParty · 18/10/2021 00:15

@Mischance

You really don’t have enough wit or gumption - I do have quite a lot of wit and gumption, but am simply trying to explore what THIS person's concern is about - that is what matters here. How can she receive reassurance if no-one knows precisely what is worrying her?

After many decades working in hospitals I know that sometimes we make assumptions about what is worrying someone and can often be surprised when we find out what their real concern is - it may not be what we think it is. The only way we can help the OP is to know exactly what hers is.

My assumption is not the OP thinks she was sexually or physically abused while she was under anaesthetic - but rather, that on coming to and realising her underwear had been removed was triggering for her, based on past events.

Who knows if I’m right or wrong - but it seems entirely too obvious to me, given the endemic number of women who have experienced (often multiple instances of) physical/sexual abuse in their past.

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