Surgical intern with PA taking chief call

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No, not partial. I am aware of the concept, it not the technical details. I am talking, virgin, "imaging straight out of the radiology textbook", gallbladder.

I double-checked with them and both the woman and her husband swore that she had her gallbladder removed twenty some years before. He remembered the details of the evening and the talk with the surgeon afterwards. Nothing else on imaging to suggest that there was another procedure done they could have confused it with. She was married when she claimed it was done so it wasn't like she was 3 at the time and misunderstood what her parents said. They didn't seem so out of it that it was like they were doing surgery on each other for recreation. But like I said appropriate surgical scars (for about 30 years ago, now).

Now it was done at a somewhat rural hospital some 500+ miles away. Maybe it was some sort of intentional fraud. Maybe they mixed her up before surgery, closed her up and the patient was confused afterwards about what exactly was (not) done. Maybe she was abducted by aliens.

But back to my main point, you soon realize that even if it isn't part of the differential, it can still happen.

This can't be the only time a patient was wrong about his/her medical history. Happens frequently.

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No, not partial. I am aware of the concept, it not the technical details. I am talking, virgin, "imaging straight out of the radiology textbook", gallbladder.

I double-checked with them and both the woman and her husband swore that she had her gallbladder removed twenty some years before. He remembered the details of the evening and the talk with the surgeon afterwards. Nothing else on imaging to suggest that there was another procedure done they could have confused it with. She was married when she claimed it was done so it wasn't like she was 3 at the time and misunderstood what her parents said. They didn't seem so out of it that it was like they were doing surgery on each other for recreation. But like I said appropriate surgical scars (for about 30 years ago, now).

Now it was done at a somewhat rural hospital some 500+ miles away. Maybe it was some sort of intentional fraud. Maybe they mixed her up before surgery, closed her up and the patient was confused afterwards about what exactly was (not) done. Maybe she was abducted by aliens.

But back to my main point, you soon realize that even if it isn't part of the differential, it can still happen.
Right, I'm saying that lots of times people do a partial they leave a lot more gb than they think, and the remnant can dilate up. If this was done 20 years ago, where the surgeon wouldn't have used a stapler and might not have used any clips, there probably isn't really any easy or reliable way to know. I can think of 2 cases just as you describe in training, one where the surgeon doing the redo is the same one who "took it out" the first time.

But it's also possible that the initial surgeon just bailed and there was a miscommunication, or he placed a chole tube or something
 
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