This is what you must know before any surgery

You went to the doctor, you got a diagnosis, the anxiety went up - and with it the uncertainty.

Now what?

Prof. Guy Lahat, director of the surgical division at Ichilov Hospital, explains what is important to ask before entering surgery.

Iris Cole

24/06/2022

Friday, 24 June 2022, 01:02

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Prof. Guy Lahat, Director of the Surgery Division at Ichilov, explains what is important to ask before entering an operating room (Walla system!)

Surgery is quite a stressful thing, and there is nothing that helps reduce anxiety like information, and preferably as much of it as possible.

Prof. Guy Lahat, director of the surgical division at Ichilov Hospital, was a guest on the "Specialist Clinic" podcast to explain what questions should be asked prior to a surgical procedure, and why we should expect surgery.

"The journey of the patient who finally arrives for surgery - begins with a diagnosis. And after the diagnosis is made the patient has to ask himself 'who should I go to', what kind of doctor should see me before making a decision about surgery, and the question of questions - who do I want to operate on and where do I want to operate? Me, "explained Prof. Lahat.

He added that in most public hospitals the surgeon can be selected.

"In Ichilov, in the surgical division, 95 percent of the patients referred for surgery by a senior surgeon are operated on by him," he said.

Prof. Lahat said that his patients usually get a diagnosis of esophageal cancer or stomach cancer.

"It's a complete shock, they do not know what to ask, and they are in shock. But they need to stop for a moment, stand in front of the gospel, and try to understand a little more about what disease I have," he said.

He added that it is worth asking a certain set of questions such as: what disease do I have, do I need to undergo further tests, who is the doctor I need to see - a surgeon or an oncologist.

"But people do not ask it, they come home and they are helpless," he added.

The next step is to learn a little more about the disease, get an idea.

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How to choose a surgeon?

Prof. Lahat emphasized in the interview that most patients do not have well-founded information according to which they choose a surgeon.

Even after a thorough examination, "In each operation you will reach at least 3 to 4 names of surgeons, and in common pathologies there will also be 10 names of leading surgeons in the field," he said, "and very few patients know how to ask the right questions to the surgeon they face. "They forgive me, but you have no control over what I will tell you this year, but I assume that most surgeons are honest people and they will tell the patient how many such cases they have done in the last year."

He added that one could also ask if the surgeon had any complications, and what complications he had, and one could even ask to speak to a person who underwent the surgery at the same surgeon.

Bottom line, once a surgeon is chosen, a relationship based on trust is formed.

"Without trust between the patient and the surgeon, it does not happen," said Prof. Lahat. "I have no problem if my patient goes for a second opinion, and I also get a lot of second opinions. I think the patient benefits from it, he hears another opinion, he knows another person, and he has the right to choose, and he chooses who will operate on him."

• health

Tags

• Surgery

• analysis

• Surgeons

• Operating room

• cancer