“How do surgeons prevent a patient from bleeding out in the OR?”
My husband died from bleeding out during a surgery that he needed to have after a serious car accident. How is bleeding out usually prevented? How can someone die from it during a procedure?
2 Answers
CriticalCareSurgeonAbdominalSurgery
Unfortunately, the rate blood loss from multiple injuries or large blood vessel can exceed the ability to replace the blood in the circulation (blood transfusions) and to stop the bleeding. Large volume blood loss causes shock, hypothermia, acidosis, and loss of the blood's innate clotting factors. These conditions can cause a deadly cycle that causes rapid failure in multiple organs (kidneys, lungs, liver, and heart) that inexorably results in death. Trauma science and trauma systems have made improvements over the centuries, but people still bleed to death. My condolences.
Usually they tie off the bleeding vessel but some trauma types such as multiple liver lacerations, traumatic tears of the aorta,and inferior vena cava for example are very difficult to repair. Also sometimes there are multiple bleeding sites again the patient can be lost also if a critical amount of blood is lost before the surgeons can get the patient to the OR