Surgeon

There are diseases, injuries and pathologies in which conservative treatment does not work. In such situations, a surgeon, a specialist in surgical intervention in the human body, is involved in the fight for the life and health of the patient. Operations is the main focus of his medical activities.

Surgery is a very broad branch of medicine. This is due to the fact that there are a huge number of diseases and disorders that can be effectively eliminated through operations. All these ailments can manifest themselves in various organs and parts of the human body. For this reason, each surgeon specializes in a specific narrow area, such as vascular, cardiac, maxillofacial surgery.

Surgeon: what kind of specialist and what does he do

Carrying out surgical interventions requires special training and level of education from the physician. A surgeon is a doctor with a higher medical education who, after graduating from a university, completed a residency or internship course in the specialty “surgery”. In the future, in order to qualify in a particular branch of surgery, it is necessary to undergo training in special courses. In addition to general medical sciences, surgeons study asepsis and antisepsis, desmurgy, and some other special branches of medicine that will certainly be useful to them in their practice. This doctor affects the organs and tissues of the body directly, making access to them with the help of appropriate tools. The operations that he conducts can be local (local) or complex.

The competence of the surgeon includes the primary diagnosis of the patient’s condition. Often, patients come to him in the direction of the treating specialist, however, in some cases, the surgeon of a narrow specialization himself receives patients in polyclinics, hospitals and private medical institutions.

Nevertheless, the main activity of this doctor is precisely the treatment of acute and chronic health disorders. In addition, he can also be engaged in emergency therapy in case of a person receiving various injuries, for example, as a result of disasters or accidents.

An operation is a complex medical process during which an intervention takes place directly on the human body. Not only the surgeon participates in it, although he, of course, is the main character. A nurse assists the surgeon, in severe cases there may be two or three of them. Another doctor, without whom it is impossible to carry out most surgical operations, is an anesthesiologist. He, before starting the operation, introduces the patient into a state of medical sleep, or uses drugs that completely block the sensitivity of a particular area or part of the body. During the entire operation, he is near the patient and monitors his condition so that, in case of emergency situations that threaten the life of the patient, take appropriate measures, for example, resuscitation. However, the main responsibility for the operation lies with the surgeon. He checks and monitors the patient’s condition even after the surgery.

The operation itself involves certain surgical procedures:

• direct dissection of muscles or tissues for the purpose of diagnostics or surgery;
• amputations;
• treatment and treatment of wounds, superficial herbs;
• placement of endoscopic instruments and probes into the body;
• blood transfusion;
• stop bleeding;
• burn treatment.

What organs and parts of the body does the surgeon treat?

Given the vastness of this industry, we can safely say that the surgeon works with all parts of the human body: torso, head, limbs.

It operates on:

• digestive organs;
• skin;
• organs of the nervous system;
• organs of the musculoskeletal system;
• sense organs;
• respiratory organs;
• organs of the genitourinary system;
• glands (for example, thyroid, mammary and others).

The main types of specialization of surgeons

Surgery is used as a form of treatment for chronic and acute ailments, as well as a cosmetic procedure to improve appearance. There are many types of surgeons.

Plastic surgeons

Plastic surgery is a highly demanded branch of medicine today. In cases where a person is categorically not satisfied with a certain part of his body (its size, location, shape), it is not always possible to correct the situation with the help of self-persuasion, creams or exercises. And no one canceled the process of natural aging. In addition, such doctors give hope to people who have suffered, for example, as a result of an accident or disaster, which affected their appearance in a negative way.

The most popular operations performed by a plastic surgeon are:

• skin tightening, wrinkle removal;
• blepharoplasty;
• rhinoplasty;
• mammoplasty;
• liposuction;
• plastic surgery of the external genital organs;
• elimination of cosmetic defects.

This doctor conducts his work not only in hospitals and clinics, but also in cosmetology centers or beauty salons. In any case, specialized education and specialization are the main requirements for a doctor.

Laser surgery

A laser surgeon does not treat only one specific organ or part of the body. He can perform operations for diseases of various organs, as well as to remove cosmetic defects. In his work, he uses a special laser device with high-precision nozzles.

Main areas of application:

• ophthalmology;
• dermatology;
• dentistry;
• neurosurgery.

Pediatric surgeon

Pediatric surgery is a separate branch of surgery. It is known that the anatomy of a child has significant differences from the anatomy of an adult, in addition, congenital malformations occur in children, and some “adult” diagnoses, such as cholecystitis or pancreatitis, are an exception, a rarity for children, and the features of their detection and treatment can be know only a pediatrician. Therefore, most operations involving young patients are performed by a specialized surgeon. A child can be referred to him:

• pediatrician;
• neonatologist;
• therapist;
• related surgeons.

Implant surgery in dentistry

An implant surgeon is a doctor of very narrow specialization who deals with dental prosthetics. In addition to surgery, the doctor can carry out conservative treatment, extract teeth or fill them. A general dentist, by the way, can also place dental implants on a patient, but it is believed that a surgeon specializing in this process will cope with the task better.

What is transplantology

This narrow section of surgery is responsible for the process of organ transplantation from a donor to a recipient – a patient who, without such an operation, may not survive. In addition to the fact that the industry itself is very specialized, there is also a qualification division of doctors within it. So, a heart transplant surgeon will not undertake a transplant operation, for example, a kidney.

Such surgeries are considered to be one of the most complex, require enormous experience and knowledge, and are usually carried out only in specialized medical centers equipped with the latest medical science.

In addition to the transplant process itself, the doctor is also responsible for the postoperative condition of the patient, monitors the process of his rehabilitation, checks whether the organ has taken root and functions normally.

A transplant surgeon can transplant:

• liver;
• kidney;
• heart;
• pancreas;
• lungs.

Skin grafting is usually the responsibility of a burn surgeon.

Burn Surgeon

The main field of activity of this doctor is the treatment of wounds and transplantation of the skin in patients with extensive skin lesions as a result of burns. In addition to the surgeon, many other doctors work with such patients at the same time: therapists, resuscitators, traumatologists, and others.

Vascular surgeon

The competence of a vascular surgeon includes the surgical treatment of problems in the functioning of the blood and lymphatic vessels. Considering that surgical intervention in such cases can occur by direct tissue dissection, or through the vessel itself, a surgeon of this specialization must have various skills and techniques for suturing damaged vessels. Common reasons for visiting a vascular surgeon are diagnosed aneurysms, thrombophlebitis. In addition, a specialist is involved in complex operations on various organs, when the participation of a group of surgeons of various specializations is necessary.

Maxillofacial Surgeon

The medical specialization of this doctor is diseases and injuries in the region of the facial part of the skull. In part, his work is close to the work of a plastic surgeon, because he is also involved in painstaking tissue restoration. The difference lies mainly in the fact that for the maxillofacial surgeon, the first priority is to eliminate the injury, wound or disease in such a way that the human maxillofacial apparatus can function normally. Beauty in this case fades into the background. The doctor works with such disorders and diseases:

• fractures of the facial bones;
• injuries of soft facial tissues;
• abscesses and phlegmon;
• osteomyelitis;
• periostitis;
• complications of dental disease.

What does a thoracic or thoracic surgeon do?

This doctor specializes in the treatment of pathologies and diseases of the chest. The specificity of working with this part of the human body lies in the presence in the chest not only of soft tissues that are freely amenable to surgical intervention, but also of ribs, which complicate the doctor’s access to organs.

It should be noted that a thoracic surgeon is not involved in heart surgery – this is the competence of a cardiac surgeon. The thoracic surgeon may be involved in cardiac surgery in order to provide the cardiac surgeon with access to the chest.

The direct specialization of the doctor are:

• lung diseases;
• the need to remove part or the whole lung;
• purulent diseases of the mediastinum;
• chest trauma;
• the appearance of accumulations of pus in the pleural cavity;
• diaphragmatic rupture and diaphragmatic hernia.

Patients usually come to a thoracic surgeon from a general practitioner, pulmonologist, or cardiologist.

Abdominal Surgeon

One of the most popular areas in modern surgery is abdominal surgery, a field of medicine that deals with the treatment of pathologies, diseases and disorders in the abdominal cavity of the human body. These doctors conduct preventive examinations in schools and kindergartens, they are often members of medical commissions at military registration and enlistment offices.

Surgeons of this qualification perform surgical intervention associated with such diseases:

• appendicitis;
• cholecystitis;
• hernias;
• intestinal obstruction;
• pancreatitis;
• rupture of the spleen;
• diverticulitis;
• peptic ulcer of the stomach or duodenum;
• peritonitis.

What does an oncologist treat?

Tumor lesions can appear in almost all organs of the human body, they can be benign or malignant. Each of the removal operations has its own specifics, depending on the location of the tumors. Therefore, oncologist surgeons, in turn, are also divided according to qualification areas. A bone marrow doctor cannot perform surgery to remove brain tumors.

Trauma surgeon

Often, most traumatologists have a surgical background and can perform some operations, since many wounds require primary surgical treatment to prevent infection and accelerate the healing process of tissues.

Working with fractures also requires surgical skills: the ability to combine bone pieces and debris, as well as the installation of pins. That is why a traumatologist spends a lot of time in the operating room.

A doctor of this specialization deals with the treatment of such injuries and disorders:

• fractures of bones (limbs, ribs);
• tears of ligaments and muscles;
• various wounds: stab, gunshot, cut;
• tissues affected by burns;
• internal bleeding.

In addition, his competence includes surgical intervention for amputation of limbs, removal of foreign bodies, and joint replacement surgery.

What other diseases does the doctor-surgeon treat?

In addition to the above areas of activity of a doctor, he can be engaged in surgical treatment of such injuries and diseases:

• boils, carbuncles, abscesses, gangrene, purulent wounds (purulent surgeon);
• disorders of the musculoskeletal system (orthopedic surgeon);
• diseases of the thyroid gland, sex glands, pituitary gland, adrenal glands (surgeon-endocrinologist);
• inflammatory processes of the uterus and ovaries, malformations and abscesses in the genital area, adhesions of the pelvic organs, ectopic pregnancy, ovarian cysts, uterine polyps (gynecologist surgeon);
• urolithiasis, neoplasms in the kidneys, narrowing of the ureters, pathologies of the bladder, inflammation of the perirenal tissue (urologist surgeon);
• eye injuries, cataracts, retinal detachment, glaucoma, strabismus (ophthalmologist surgeon);
• paraproctitis, anal fissures, hemorrhoids, rectal polyps, tumor formations in the intestines (surgeon-proctologist);
• disorders in the work of the heart (cardiac surgeon);
• pathologies of the male genital organs (surgeon-andrologist);
• injuries and pathologies of the hand (hand surgeon).

What symptoms should you see a surgeon for?

Usually, a consultation with a doctor of this profile is prescribed by the attending physician in cases where there is a need for an operation:

• with the appearance of an inflammatory purulent process, if it is impossible to stop it with a medical method;
• in the presence of open and closed injuries;
• to eliminate congenital malformations;
• during the course of the tumor process;
• with the appearance of complications of parasitic damage to the body.

In addition, you should sign up for a doctor’s consultation:

• with the appearance of sharp pains of incomprehensible etiology;
• upon detection of foreign impurities in feces and urine;
• with redness of soft tissues, areas around the joints, with the formation of edema in these places;
• when warts, tumors, warts appear on the body;
• with prolonged vomiting with blood, when there is a history of peptic ulcer;
• in the presence of long non-healing wounds and ulcers, especially on the limbs;
• when painful seals are found in the area of ​​uXNUMXbuXNUMXblymph nodes, in the mammary glands in women.

Other reasons to visit a doctor are such pathologies and injuries as ingrown nails, corns, painful corns.

Methods used by the doctor for diagnosis and treatment

To determine the ailment with which the patient turns to the surgeon, the doctor must first find out exactly what causes have become a cause for concern. The surgeon interrogates the person, learns about all the manifestations and sensations that differ from the norm. Having collected information in this way, the doctor proceeds to the examination: he examines the external condition of the skin, mucous tissues, seals, wounds, ulcers, limbs and torso, probes them.

In most cases, the data obtained in this way is not enough to make a diagnosis, and therefore the doctor prescribes blood tests (biochemistry, a detailed general analysis), PCR tests for hepatitis viruses, a general urine test, tests for the presence of sexually transmitted diseases. Among other examinations in the “arsenal” of the surgeon: anoscopy, ultrasound, functional testing of the circulatory organs, endoscopy, bronchoscopy, cystoscopy, laparoscopy, pleuroscopy, radiography of the stomach and intestines, electrocardiogram, and other methods of studying the state of the body.

After establishing the diagnosis, the doctor determines what kind of therapeutic measures should be taken in a particular case. If we are talking about the need for an urgent operation, the doctor argues this need for the patient and sends him to the hospital for preparatory measures.

Surgical treatment can be carried out in various ways. Distinguish between general and specialized surgery. The latter includes microsurgery, neurosurgery, laser surgery, and endoscopic surgery. General surgery is considered acute, abdominal surgery and traumatology.

The surgeon provides specialized medical care to patients for whom all other methods of treatment, except for surgery, are inappropriate or useless. This profession among other medical professions is distinguished by an increased level of responsibility and requirements for a specialist. The surgeon must possess iron endurance, patience, high precision, accuracy, excellent hand motility, one hundred percent vision, endurance and stamina. It is on how quickly and clearly this doctor can make the right decisions in complex, dangerous situations that arise during the operation, the life of the patient largely depends. Despite the fact that not only the surgeon is involved in the process of the operation, often the entire responsibility for the outcome of this event lies with him.