[dhs12345]

Just curious -- how risky is it for the surgeons? They are dealing with infected blood.

[gas_dr]

how risky is it for the surgeons?

Live transplant is an incredibly difficult and bloody procedure. They can bleed more than anyother surgery, and the lines necessary to safely do this proceudre as multiple and complex. This is horrendously risky for both the surgeon and the anesthesiologist.

[anobjectivist]

I thought that as well.

Any doctor certainly can opt out of the operation because of the risk involved.

That probably also increases the cost of the operation a substantial amount as well.

[MainFrame65]

My brother - an interventional radiologist, the medical specialty that performs surgical procedures via catheters and other special tools introduced into the body via the circulatory system - was infected with hepatitis C from one of his patients at the teaching hospital where he used to work. It probably happened as a result of a glove failure, but that was never established. He could still have taught, if interferon treatment had succeeded, but instead it caused clotting problems that eventually cost him use of one arm, on top of the infection that will destroy his liver in the next few years. He has also lost a kidney, and needs colon surgery but has not decided that it is worth the ordeal.

Every time I talk to him the subject of whether his life is worth living seems to arise. He used to be physically active, but any exertion now leaves him weak and confused due to associated problems with circulation to his brain. A transplant would not change that, or restore use of his arm.

Dangerous for the surgeon? Yes, I think so. I know so. And my brother is worth more than every one of these low-lifes that ever existed.

[Kozak]

Just curious -- how risky is it for the surgeons? They are dealing with infected blood.

Just life or death for the surgeons. One nick with a scalpel or if they stick themselves with a suture needle it could be a death sentence. Something all of us in medicine deal with on a daily basis. At least in this case they KNOW. Most of the time we DON'T.