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skisushi t1_j1z6n2a wrote

Reply to comment by przyssawka in How do shifts work on really long medical operations? by TerjiD

Head and neck surgeons do orchestrate some of the most complex and difficult surgeries though. You may have several teams doing different parts of a surgery and take turns. I have seen as many as 4 or 5 teams work together. Neurosurgery, ophthalmology, plastics, OMFS and ENT/ HNS all can participate on some large tumor resections and reconstructions. When actively involved you can get so focused that food, pee breaks, etc don't cross your mind for 8 to 12 hours. Then you finish and it all catches up to you.

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przyssawka t1_j1z731i wrote

Yes but as you mentioned for stuff like anterior or lateral approach skull base surgery or large tumor dissections we do take turns. it’s usually a combined effort by neuro, maxfac and ENT. Compare it to stuff like transplantology where one team usually handles the entirety of the procedure.

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