Eli5 Why shouldn’t I drink alcohol before surgery?
In: 50
bc it’s a “poison” that’s why if you drink too much of it, your body will try to get rid of it (by vomiting). Just happens your liver can handle it.
If you are not 5 and have some basic biology knowledge, then it will mess with your heartrate, your blood pressure, and generally everything they give you to be stable on the table while they operate on you. It is a risk factor they are trying to minimize.
As the patient alcohol causes a couple problems
– it‘s a blood thinner, which can lead to problems controlling blood loss
– it can react with certain medicines, making them ineffective or straight up dangerous
– particularly most anesthetics react with alcohol and become less effective
– it widens veins and can cause swelling, making the area you‘re getting a surgery on hard to work with
– it weakens the immune system, increasing the risk of infections
As a surgeon it impairs your hand-eye coordination and delays reactions. I.e. you‘re more likely to mess up and when you do you might react too slowly.
It‘s not uncommon to see doctors who do operate intoxicated, as it relieves their stress and helps them stay calm during the operation.
If you are undergoing an invasive procedure, chances are there will be some blood loss. To avoid excessive blood loss, it’s particularly important that your blood clots as it normally does. However, alcohol acts as a blood thinner and will impact how effectively your blood can clot. This can cause serious problems, particularly if something does go wrong during your procedure.
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