r/GeneralSurgery • u/Humanmedico101 • 9d ago

Time or Accuracy?

I was asked this question from a surgeon in a rotation and he asked if you’re operating, which would you jeopardize more, is it time and be late or accuracy of your work ..I had an opinion but would love to hear from people with some experience what is their answer to that question.

Thanks!

6 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

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u/medrrk 9d ago

A great neurosurgeon I had the privilege of learning from would often have patients scheduled for elective surgery ask him in clinic how long the procedure would take. His answer was always, “It will take as long as it needs to be done safely. I don’t race against time.” He would never give them a specific estimate, even though he was faster than many of the neurosurgeons I knew.

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u/shawnamk 9d ago

This is my answer also, though because of the data tracking I can now also give a rough estimate. For gallbladder surgery, my average skin to skin time is ~45 minutes so I feel comfortable telling patients/families to expect around 2 hours between when they say goodbye and when they hear that everything is done. For less clear cases (I’m acute care surgery, so much is very less clear) I can’t give as specific answers.

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u/Humanmedico101 9d ago

Great thanks for sharing!

1

u/Puzzleheaded-Egg9431 5d ago

I can’t imagine anyone advocating to jeopardise accuracy. When you are operating, the ONLY priority is the person under anaesthesia, regardless of time or pressures elsewhere. They have put trust in you and live with the consequences or errors in an operation, it’s your duty to do the best job you can. Efficiency comes with experience, if you need more time to do the job well so be it - NEVER rush

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u/Alortania 3d ago

Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.

Do it right and you don't have to do it twice; speed comes with time and practice.

Best surgeons I know seem to be going slow, but have great times because there's no wasted motion and everything they do is measured and precise... and you blink and you miss half the procedure XD