What is considered the most serious,risky surgery?

Be_Moore · Jul 4, 2009

That's a complex question with no clear winner of an answer. Different comorbidity sets are going to affect different surgeries differently. Another thing you may see is that some surgeries are going to have poor outcomes not because of the surgeries themselves but because of the condition they are treating...for example, traumas. A lot of gunshots and car crashes die in the OR. Is that because the surgery itself was inherently that risky or because the patient was just that damaged to begin with?

beachbutterfly · Jul 4, 2009

yes it is true,a lot victims die because of extensive traumas (ICP,hypovolemia,release of toxins from the injured body parts) I also read that a spinal surgery cannot really fix the "spine" or dislocated intervertebral disc and doctors knows this but they refuse to admitt however I heard that chiropractors are able to really help people with spine problems.

Be_Moore · Jul 4, 2009

Well, chiropractors have their place in this world, much like optometrists do...but there are things that are outside of their scope that are necessary. To return to the above example of trauma, while surgery may not be able to "fix" the problem, surgeons can at least stabilize a spine such that some function may be retained, or if nothing else, further injury may be prevented. I know a quadriplegic who can walk because of spine surgery and bone grafting, so I would be hesitant to say that orthopedic and neurosurgery doesn't "work".

PAERRN20 · Jul 4, 2009

Dissecting aortic aneurysm repair? I agree with the trauma and neuro surgery as mentioned above.

beachbutterfly · Jul 4, 2009

Dissecting aortic aneurysm repair? I agree with the trauma and neuro surgery as mentioned above.

wow good catch I totally agree,I think that the mortality rate is very high.

On the other hand I think spinal has a high risk for bleeding and infection.

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Jul 4, 2009

Oooh, I don't know... some of the repairs for congenital heart defects are really complex, very lengthy and result in a very sick baby. Total anomalous pulmonary venous return is notoriously bad. And then there are the conjoined twin separations. Yeesh, long, difficult and very risky.

twinmommy+2, ADN, BSN, MSN · Jul 4, 2009

Like the poster above, I would say anything neonatal related is very risky.

Scrubby · Jul 4, 2009

Hmmm this is a really hard question to answer. A Ruptured AAA repair and a Cerebral anaeurysm repair are pretty high risk cases where the patient may not have a good outcome.

wowza · Jul 4, 2009

yes it is true,a lot victims die because of extensive traumas (ICP,hypovolemia,release of toxins from the injured body parts) I also read that a spinal surgery cannot really fix the "spine" or dislocated intervertebral disc and doctors knows this but they refuse to admitt however I heard that chiropractors are able to really help people with spine problems.

Sorry to get off topic but this needed to be addressed.

You probably heard this with regards to chronic back pain. Do not let a chiropractor EVER mess with anyone who has any acute problem with their vertebrae. High velocity maneuvers on an unstable spine spells disaster.

A chiropractor's place is with chronic low back pain and pretty much nothing else. For clearly minor acute MSK strain I personally have found they also do a pretty good job. For anyone requiring surgery from spondylolysis or even spondylolisthesis do not let your patient go to a chiropractor first.

Most dangerous surgeries are anything in which the surgeon is trying to catch up: Major trauma, disections, ruptures aneurysms, etc. The process has already started to compromise the patients.

Things like normal aneurism repairs, while risky are no where near as bad as when the aneurism has already ruptured

$fracturenurse$ · Jul 4, 2009

Oops this post got messed up...

$fracturenurse$ · Jul 4, 2009

Dissecting aortic aneurysm repair? I agree with the trauma and neuro surgery as mentioned above.

I completely agree with that! Vascular surgery can go wrong in a flash in general. Believe it or not, most of my codes in the OR have been doing an AV graft, or thrombectomy. But those renal patients usually have so many other medical issues going on as well!