Hear me out….do you think you could perform an appendicitis if you had to?

[Ettubrutus]

Let’s say you had 48hrs to practice

Plus a surgical dummy to practice on

And books (you don’t have the internet)

And all the equipment you’d need

AND the person is going to die if you DONT do it

a) Do you think you could pull it off?

*surgeons of MN please come and tell us if the average person could or not given the above

** you get an assistant to suction and stuff

I'm quite good at sewing but I made a right mess of trying to debone a chicken so it might not be wise.

The lack of knowledge of anatomy (and inability to tel the difference between a ureter and an artery) is definitely going to be a bigger problem than most people realise (are they actually going to be able to identify the appendix?).

But I also think the psychological barrier to cutting into somebody is much higher than most people realise - even getting medical students to take blood is hard, because they find it hard to stick a needle into another person.

I’m a physician but do a few minor ops procedures as part of my job (excision of tunnelled dialysis lines etc). It is really hard to get our SHOs to stick a scalpel into somebody with confidence, let alone somebody with no healthcare experience at all.

I also had the misfortune to witness an emergency C-section done under ketamine and physical restraints in Tanzania many years ago (obstructed labour, no access to either general or spinal anaesthetic, she was just strapped down), and it was fucking horrific. There is no chance anyone here is going to manage an appendicectomy on a conscious, struggling, screaming patient.

I just had an image of that scene from Meet The Focker's where Gaylord's foreskin flew through the air and went into the fondue pot.

I've also watched my fair share of casualty. I'd give it a go - only if the pictures are good in the book. I cannot even begin to visualise what I would be doing and where it is. Do you go in from the front or back?

(Also would lile to hear the song mentioned upthread, and the story behind the composer.)

I could definitely identify an appendix, they look like dog willies.

You could amputate a finger by tying string round it really tight and it will eventually drop off.

The patient died from his gangrenous limb.

In the process of the amputation, the surgeon cut through his assistants hand, which became fatally infected.

A spectator in the theatre, shockednby the brutality, stood to leave and fainted, falling down a flight of stairs and sustaining a fatal subdural haematoma.

All recounted in a QI 😀

Amputations are more complex than it sounds - ideally you prepare the site to create enough spare tissue to create a flap to cover the stump.

A fascination with history and battlefield surgery showing now.

Nope ..don't do blood so am afraid it's up to heaven for you.off you pop cheerio.

I'd give it a go if they were going to die anyway.

I'm quietly confident that I could pull off a tracheotomy, diagnose various conditions and deliver a baby from watching Greys and Holby City but not sure about an appendectomy.

I heave if I have to touch raw meat so your with the angles now hun. RIP.

I also have never been able to watch fake operations on TV so I really would be a train wreck.

Sure why not. I've replaced a float valve. I feel ready to step up from entry level plumbing to intermediate surgery. Can't guarantee I won't set off the buzzer and make the patient's nose light up though.

I remember that being on the news.

I think they managed to evacuate her out but it wasn't routine at all.

I'm definitely going to perform surgery, better one volunteer than ten prest men so my enthusiasm will win the day. I'm ready.