Dr Tomoaki Kato, a trailblazing surgeon in the US, performed a 43-hour ex vivo surgery to remove a tumor from a 59-year-old man who said it was too early to die, the New York Times has reported.
A massive tumor had engulfed numerous organs, and chemotherapy had no effect. An ex vivo surgery – in which the organs are removed, operated on, then re-inserted into the body – was his only hope.
An amazing surgery. A brilliant surgeon. But even his boss isn’t sure if spending 43 hours on a single patient is ethically correct, in a context of limited resources.
About Greg Baxter
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Wonderful. Life is life. There are many times we spend 50hrs in theatre with a patient over a period of time, skin grafts in a burns patient over a period, reconstruction patient in a plastics over a period,etc. Do it makes it less ethical to do it all at once?