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Original poster

Medical things you didn’t know?

738 replies

Emptychairdoasolo · 04/07/2023 21:09

Just watching a medical drama and wondered what happens if you die on the operating table? Do they just sew you back up without repairing anything inside?

but also had me thinking what other medical things didn’t you know until you maybe experienced them or learned?

OP posts:
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8
GlucklicheTage · 05/07/2023 01:58

BadNomad · 05/07/2023 01:52

That's interesting. I'm in Northern Ireland so you would think our rituals/traditions would be similar. Maybe that does happen more in the country. I just know it's not something that was done on any of the wards I've worked on around Belfast.

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yes the country in Ireland but they all died at home. Catholic, again don’t know if that makes a difference.
My mum and aunt died in England in a hospice and we turned the beds.
My dad died in intensive care in Ireland and they turned him and opened the window at our request.

sashh · 05/07/2023 01:58

Ragged · 04/07/2023 21:36

It's endless, actually, the interesting stuff.
I have a relative who was declared dead while their heart was still beating. How weird is that? What a strong heart. Their pulse was long stopped by then and consciousness longer still gone.

Er it's not possible to have a heart beat and not a pulse. It is possible to have a normal ECG but no pulse so if he was on a monitor it could still have been showing a normal ECG.

Dustyblue · 05/07/2023 02:07

Yarnorama · 05/07/2023 01:46

Genetic Truth- Boys will always be taller than their mothers.

@Dustyblue my adult son is not taller than me!

I wondered if this was actually true, you prove it is not!

You don't meet too many adult men shorter than their mothers, you've made my day :)

sashh · 05/07/2023 02:32

tt9 · 05/07/2023 01:24

if someone is speaking... their brain has to be getting oxygen... and the carotid artery (in the neck) supplies oxygen to the brain... so the pulse should be detectable... but very easy to miss if it's very weak. in some cases the person can have a very abnormal heart beat (these aren't classified as the heart actually beating as they are so abnormal) and no pulse and the patient is in cardiac arrest so will be unconscious

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I once defibbed someone who was still conscious.

He was in VF, but it was in a cath lab so easy to get to and the defib was only about a metre away.

msssm · 05/07/2023 02:45

Tryingtofit · 04/07/2023 23:15

  1. you need a heart beating person to donate organs, it's strict criteria for obvious reasons
  2. more people can donate soft tissues such as skin/bone/cornea
  3. a high BP will kill you eventually
  4. a severe headache during sex is an emergency
  5. urine pregnancy tests in hospital are the same as you can buy over the counter

I get a really sore head every time I orgasm.

Should I be worried?

MaggyNoodles · 05/07/2023 02:57

notagain2020 · 04/07/2023 21:38

I think that is very similar to the 'dentist kneeling on my chest' to take a tooth out. A type of urban myth.

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When I woke up after having my wisdom teeth out under GA, I had a lot of bruising on my shoulders and chest.

ilovepixie · 05/07/2023 03:05

This reply has been deleted

This message has been withdrawn at the poster's request

When my dad died there was a smell and the nurse opened the window. When my MIL and OH died the nurse didn't open the window and there was no smell.

MaidOfSteel · 05/07/2023 03:57

Kelpi · 04/07/2023 22:15

Hang on a minute... So someone can be alive but brainstem dead, and they get taken to surgery and just... Carved up? In what order? Does that kind of make the person who takes out the organs feel like a murderer?! After all, the donor goes into surgery with a beating heart and comes out without a heart at all.

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I know most people don't know about the process of organ donation unless they find themselves involved, but I found your description a bit upsetting.

My mother had a brain haemorrhage and, with no chance of survival let alone recovery, we took the decision to donate her organs. I now take comfort in knowing there are 2 people alive today who might not have been otherwise. I try not to think about the 'brutality' of it.

snowlady4 · 05/07/2023 04:07

Spidey66 · 04/07/2023 21:30

When you die most nurses will open a window to allow your soul out

I doubt that's the reason. I think it's more likely to prevent any smell.

Nope. That is the exact reason. It's an old superstition. And everyone seems to do it!

Justaddalittlespice · 05/07/2023 04:07

That in organ transplants they leave the original one in also. If you have your leg amputated you are awake for the surgery

GerbilMum26 · 05/07/2023 04:10

I have a rare neurological condition, the initial diagnosis only happened because of symptoms noticed when getting a routine prescription check at specsavers.
according to several doctors I’ve spoken to, dentists apparently often detect heart issues!

AppleDumplingWithCustard · 05/07/2023 04:34

Justaddalittlespice · 05/07/2023 04:07

That in organ transplants they leave the original one in also. If you have your leg amputated you are awake for the surgery

Normally a general anaesthetic for amputation. Sometimes using a spinal block if the patient is a poor anaesthetic risk ie elderly with respiratory/cardiac disease.

BadNomad · 05/07/2023 04:37

Justaddalittlespice · 05/07/2023 04:07

That in organ transplants they leave the original one in also. If you have your leg amputated you are awake for the surgery

Slightly related to this - if you have a limb amputated you can request to have it returned to you so you can have it stored until your death when it can be reunited with your body. Alternatively, there are a couple of cemeteries that offer limb burial services. But, as far as I know, you can't have a limb cremated while you are still alive.

sashh · 05/07/2023 04:38

Another hospital tradition / superstition.

You never get a ward 13. If you ever hear a medic refer to a patient as, "transferred to ward 13" it means they have been taken to the morgue.

Naillig222 · 05/07/2023 04:48

People with red hair require more anaesthetic.

sashh · 05/07/2023 05:05

Naillig222 · 05/07/2023 04:48

People with red hair require more anaesthetic.

And theatre hang an extra bag of blood because they bleed more.

Wafflesandcrepes · 05/07/2023 05:12

i learnt on Mumsnet that a backache can indicate aortic dissection. My mum’s GP and osteopath didn’t know that. She died in January.

WiddlinDiddlin · 05/07/2023 05:24

Jennalong · 04/07/2023 21:36

When you die your blood pools to the side you die in so that part of the body looks darker . Die on your back to keep it away from your face !
It's called liver mortis.

This can happen even before you die if you go into a coma/are unable to move/heart rate is reallllly slow. For example, people found having lain on their floors for a long time close to death.

Dentistry is... nowhere near as advanced as we'd like to think. Whilst kneeling on someones chest is unlikely (the damage it would do!!), I have had a dental nurse hold me into the chair with her upper body so she could hold my head still. It was by far the most traumatic thing I've experienced and I think the same could be said for both dentist and nurse!

Emotionalsupportviper · 05/07/2023 05:24

Plentiful · 04/07/2023 21:18

That the ‘old’ kidney or kidneys aren’t usually removed when you have a kidney transplant. They’re left in your body unless there’s a medical reason to remove them

WHAT? 😧

I am full of DEAD MEAT? 😮

Emotionalsupportviper · 05/07/2023 05:28

Spidey66 · 04/07/2023 21:30

When you die most nurses will open a window to allow your soul out

I doubt that's the reason. I think it's more likely to prevent any smell.

Don't spoil it for me, please.

<now afraid that if it is a cold day outside, some nesh nurse will decide she'd rather cope with the stench, not open a window, and my soul will be left fluttering helplessly against the glass>

Bramblecrumble22 · 05/07/2023 05:37

Heart infections are caused by infections from cavities, travelling through the bloodstream so look after your teeth

Emotionalsupportviper · 05/07/2023 05:38

HollyFern1110 · 04/07/2023 21:34

Recently deceased bodies don't smell any worse than they did just before they died.

I've carried out last offices for many patients over the years. We were definitely opening the window to let the soul out. Superstition I suppose.

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@HollyFern1110 , @Allthecatseverywhereallatonce , @DustyLee123 , @DustyLee123 and @Wowzel

Thank you for confirming the soul-letting-out-thing.

This is one particular worry I won't need to fuss over now and I can concentrate on who will look after the dogs.

I hope that all atheist and agnostic nurses stick to the rules, too.

Emotionalsupportviper · 05/07/2023 05:39

Bramblecrumble22 · 05/07/2023 05:37

Heart infections are caused by infections from cavities, travelling through the bloodstream so look after your teeth

I'd heard that good oral hygiene was important for heart health, but didn't know why - thank you.

Emotionalsupportviper · 05/07/2023 05:43

Kiwiandstrawberries · 04/07/2023 22:31

Have been a nurse for 35 years and have never opened a window for that reason,in fact have never heard of this superstition!
Undertakers actually request that windows are not opened because of the risk of flies ,especially in warm weather .

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Undertakers actually request that windows are not opened because of the risk of flies ,especially in warm weather

I promise I'll be quick!

VaccineSticker · 05/07/2023 05:46

DeathWinsAGolfish · 04/07/2023 22:10

@Spidey66 As a nurse of 37 years I can confirm, a window is always opened to free the soul.

It is pretty offensive to think that the NHS is wasting time and money on teaching nurses mumbo jumbo. Where is the science in this? this is a thread that is meant to be about medicine and science…

On the other hand- Wish more people opened their windows during covid and followed the science.