Passing out observing surgeries….am I doomed to fail?

[morganic]

So I’m a first year vet student and I’m running into an issue…I keep getting extremely light headed anytime I’m standing there observing someone else do something. (And I’m not locking my knees!! I swear on it)

Yesterday, we did an anesthetized goat castration and during the demonstration, I had to sit on the floor because I got so hot and lightheaded and unfortunately I’m pretty familiar with the “about to pass out” feeling. When I was actually doing the castration though I was totally fine and had no issues. But I started getting a little lightheaded watching our goat in recovery, but I was okay after I just walked away for a minute or 2 to distract myself with the awake and still intact goats lol. But I can’t really do that in a surgery without looking like a *******.

Another time it happened was during anatomy lab as the professor was walking my group through the pelvic limb nerves. So that was extremely embarrassing, especially right in front of my professor. But I haven’t gotten light headed any other time in lab.

I can’t help but feel like I’m going to be doomed to fail if I start passing out everytime I’m in the same room as a surgery. I don’t understand why, I have no personal problem with blood or anything. I’ve assisted in tons of (human) laceration repairs and abscess drainages, assisted in spays/neuters, and never had this issue. But something about standing there just watching does something to me.

It’s genuinely really embarrassing. I’m pretty good at catching myself so no one actually noticed I went to the floor, including my goat castration partner, but still. It’s embarrassing to be going to vet school and not being able to stand watching a surgery… Has anyone else experienced this? Do you get over it eventually? Is it something that just stops happening or am I kinda screwed?

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[SkiOtter]

@TheGirlWithTheFernTattoo was it you who has passed out from surgeries before?

 

[WildZoo]

Welcome to the club of people who join SDN to ask this question

Passing out/feeling light-headed while watching surgeries

The first time I ever watched a spay I passed out. I was super embarrassed about it and basically thought it meant I could never be a vet. But I got over that, and it's been months since I've even felt light-headed in the OR. Buuut today I went in exhausted and a little weak (joys of being...

forums.studentdoctor.net

I'm not posting that to be dismissive of your specific situation. Rather so you can see it is a common issue and one that many people have dealt with. I was right there with you 8 years ago. The advice people gave me helped immensely, so I hope it can help you too!

 

[WildZoo]

That thread gets a little off track with inside jokes towards the end, but the beginning is good

 

[WildZoo]

Here are a few others too!

Search results for query: Faint

forums.studentdoctor.net

 

[battie]

I faint because of a medical condition between my brain and heart. I made sure to move around a little bit and be actively engaged in the surgery to avoid surgery. Got through all of vet school without an episode.

Now that I've graduated, I may actually never do surgery again (no regrets!)

 

[JustPaws]

I was okay after I just walked away for a minute or 2 to distract myself with the awake and still intact goats lol. But I can’t really do that in a surgery without looking like a *******.

Just to clarify, you only look like a ** if you pass out into the surgical field if you knew you felt ****ty and opted to not sit down. I'm a 4th year and literally got overheated last week assisting on a rotation. I asked for alcohol on my neck, I removed shoes as recommended, and then when I still felt sick I stepped away and degowned. I drank some water, sat for a bit and they allowed me to rescrub/gown/etc and I still got to close the incision.

 

[JaynaAli]

Also idk if other schools do goat castrations first year but if this is a lab at Oklahoma State I remember those labs from ten years ago and it’s hot af in those barns at Langston. If you were outside maybe it was heat getting to you rather than surgery itself? But also I agree with paws, there’s no shame in it. You need to let everyone know so they can look out for you. As an intern I got to feeling very sick in a surgery, fever, upset stomach, the whole shebang. I actually had to have two techs drive me home (one to drive my car home for me and one to take tech 1 back) when the usual things didn’t help…I felt so awful. But it was better than fainting and hurting myself or breaking sterility of the surgery.

 

[TheGirlWithTheFernTattoo]

So I’m a first year vet student and I’m running into an issue…I keep getting extremely light headed anytime I’m standing there observing someone else do something. (And I’m not locking my knees!! I swear on it)

Yesterday, we did an anesthetized goat castration and during the demonstration, I had to sit on the floor because I got so hot and lightheaded and unfortunately I’m pretty familiar with the “about to pass out” feeling. When I was actually doing the castration though I was totally fine and had no issues. But I started getting a little lightheaded watching our goat in recovery, but I was okay after I just walked away for a minute or 2 to distract myself with the awake and still intact goats lol. But I can’t really do that in a surgery without looking like a *******.

Another time it happened was during anatomy lab as the professor was walking my group through the pelvic limb nerves. So that was extremely embarrassing, especially right in front of my professor. But I haven’t gotten light headed any other time in lab.

I can’t help but feel like I’m going to be doomed to fail if I start passing out everytime I’m in the same room as a surgery. I don’t understand why, I have no personal problem with blood or anything. I’ve assisted in tons of (human) laceration repairs and abscess drainages, assisted in spays/neuters, and never had this issue. But something about standing there just watching does something to me.

It’s genuinely really embarrassing. I’m pretty good at catching myself so no one actually noticed I went to the floor, including my goat castration partner, but still. It’s embarrassing to be going to vet school and not being able to stand watching a surgery… Has anyone else experienced this? Do you get over it eventually? Is it something that just stops happening or am I kinda screwed?

@TheGirlWithTheFernTattoo was it you who has passed out from surgeries before?

Ski is correct, I've had my fair share of issues in this department. Mine is also similar, where I tend to get more lightheaded on the procedures where I am just watching instead of focusing on doing the surgery myself. I've hit the floor once (watching my first dental extraction), but before vet school it took me about 6 months of going into every spay surgery at work (leaving to sit down after 5 min, going back in, repeat) before I was actually able to watch one front to back without getting that lovely pre-faint feeling.

A few people mentioned overheating, and I think that is a huge one. This summer, my first surgery at my summer job I nearly hit the floor and had to back away from the table. I was embarrassed, since I haven't come close to passing out since before I started vet school. Started putting an ice pack in my scrub pants pocket so that whenever I started to feel too hot (for me that is the first step in the chain of passing out) I could bend my leg so the ice pack touched my leg and cooled me down (plus I could focus on the cold sensation instead of the hot). It worked really well and I didn't have any issues after I started doing that.

I do think another part of it is once it happens enough you psyche yourself out and set yourself up for failure by overthinking it. Every time I go into surgery in a new location or with new people, I worry that this is going to be the time I hit the floor again. Once I get over my little panic attack things are usually much better. I also find when you are the one actually doing the surgery, you are so focused on your landmarks/assessments that you stop focusing on the lights, the blood, the shining fat, etc.

Long story short: it's not uncommon, and I knew several grown up ER docs who do emergency surgeries all the time and manage despite previous histories of getting lightheaded. You just figure out what works for you and hopefully eventually get desensitized.

(Also I just finished up my surgery rotation a few weeks ago and didn't get lightheaded at all despite being in multiple surgeries each day so there is definitely hope even for those that can't make it 5 minutes into a spay haha)