Sneezing In Surgery

[mct2762]

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So this may sound dumb, but it was a legit question I had after yesterday. I was scrubbed in on a hysterectomy and had to sneeze really bad. What are you supposed to do in that situation!? You can't touch your face....are you supposed to sneeze in the mask and just have your snot sitting there?
I can't be the only person who has had this question!

 

[OneTripAcross]

It depends on the surgery and the surgeon I would imagine. I saw an ortho doc sneeze real bad a few times during an ACL reconstruction. He backed away for a second and said he couldn't do the rest of the case with his snot all around his face. He just simply left the OR, cleaned up, and rescrubbed.

 

[NurWollen]

MedPR, is that you?

 

[hallowmann]

MedPR, is that you?

Just curious, what's with this sudden resurgence of people guessing MedPR is back as an extreme anti-DO troll. For one thing, I don't recall him being sooo anti-DO in the first place. For another if he didn't come back within a couple months after being banned, what are the chances he's going out of his way to set up a bunch of accounts 6 months - 1yr later?

OP, I imagine backing away is the least you could do. Maybe turning away also. If you can't handle it in your mask, maybe excuse yourself like OneTripAcross said. But to be honest, I've only seen handfuls of surgeries live and in color, and no one was sneezing, so I don't really have personal experience in the matter.

 

[Sublimazing]

I've seen surgeons excuse themselves after sneezing, if they've gotten blood on their neck, or to get water for incessant coughing many-a-time...it's not a big deal, there's always at least 2 surgeons scrubbed so one of them continues to work while the other takes 5 minutes to wash off and re-enter. The cost of a new gown and gloves is pretty minimal compared to almost any surgery you can think of...the scrub techs certainly go through far more gown and gloves as they get breaks every few hours.

 

[bleeker10]

What I've always done is take a step back and just sneeze into my mask. I don't turn my head because then the sneeze could potentially go out the side and onto the surgical field. At least that's what I was told by other surgeons.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

For another if he didn't come back within a couple months after being banned, what are the chances he's going out of his way to set up a bunch of accounts 6 months - 1yr later?

If you know him, you'd know the answer to your question is: very likely.

 

[NurWollen]

If you know him, you'd know the answer to your question is: very likely.

I've gotta agree with this.

 

[hallowmann]

If you know him, you'd know the answer to your question is: very likely.

Yeah, because reading what someone writes on a public forum = knowing them **rolls eyes in exxxtra slo-mo for emphasis** 🙂

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

Yeah, because reading what someone writes on a public forum = knowing them **rolls eyes in exxxtra slo-mo for emphasis** 🙂

We were good friends on Facebook for some time.

 

[hallowmann]

We were good friends on Facebook for some time.

Well then you might have slightly more insight (but really again, being facebook "friends" is not really a sign that you know someone either). If you tell me you went to school together, then I would yield to your judgement.

 

[NontradCA]

We were good friends on Facebook for some time.