Bleeding during surgery?

xtremlee · Feb 28, 2004

Just is just my thoughts. When you are in surgery how do the keep you from bleeding to death? If you was to have a car wreck and split you open like that you would bleed to death before they could save you right? I just watched that video and just didnt understand why you would not bleed profusley?
Lee

Raverlaw · Feb 28, 2004

Lee,

Your blood is circulated through the heart lung machine, so they can stop your heart and work on it. There is some bleeding as they make incisions, but it is kept under control. When they cut into the heart and/or arteries, they use clamps in they area they are working on to keep bleeding to a minimum.

You will lose some blood, most of which will be replaced, but you won't bleed to death.

catwoman · Feb 28, 2004

Was at a DVM friend's clinic recently and her partner/business partner was showing off some of their new surgical equipment: a cutting device that also cauterizes at the same time. Reduces bleeding around incisions.

Most DVM equipment and Rxes are manufactured by companies that do the same for human medicine, so I'm sure something similar is used in surgery on humans.

tommy · Feb 28, 2004

Lee,

I lost less than 1 unit of blood in my AVR.

labguides · Feb 28, 2004

Our daughter needed 3 units of blood, 1 of plasma and 1 of platelets for her mitral valve repair.

Harpoon · Feb 29, 2004

For starters, they clamp off arteries and veins that are about to be cut through during surgery so that blood can't flow out of them. The heart/lung machine acts in place of your real heart and lungs for the duration of the surgery, allowing the body to get the oxygen it needs while giving surgeons time to work on the heart while it's not beating. They put everything back together before they close you up of course. =)

And what catwoman said about the scalpel. For years now surgeons have been using a special kind of scalpel that cauterizes the wound as it cuts, actually burns or sears tissues and vessels closed which prevents bleeding.

This isn't to say your surgery will be bleed free. They keep it to a minimum but every proceedure will have some bleeding. Ideally there won't be enough to require a transfusion, but it's always possible.

There are a lot of things that might happen after surgery that could cause bleeding as well. The doctors will know how to deal with this and can stay on top of it pretty well should bleeding occur after surgery.