If you were in a car crash and had been eating all day, how is that different from a routine surgery where you weren’t allowed to eat for a certain amount of time before surgery?
Edit: based on some answers, perhaps I should clarify obviously I understand they have to perform surgery in an emergency. My question is more what do they do in an emergency when you haven’t fasted.
Thanks to those with real answers, I never knew about the special tube that could be used. That’s pretty cool.
I’m having surgery tomorrow and can’t eat so was just wondering how they handle food in the stomach during an emergency surgery situation.
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Medicine at it’s core is risk management.
There is no 100% safe treatment or medicine, but they can be significantly safer than your illness. Which is why doctors use them.
You can look at it like playing “Rock, Paper, Scissors”; in the case of a scheduled surgery where you don’t eat, and they do prep. The surgery staff will try and stack the deck in your favour, so when you play it’s best 3 out of 5 and your opponent(Death) is only allowed to use “Rock” and “Scissors”.
However, in an emergency, they don’t have this luxury. The only choice they have is for you to automatically lose(die), or they can bring you to the table and at least try to give you a chance to play a regular game and hope you can pull through.
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