Viewers of the gory Operation Live TV series were amazed once again last night when they saw a surgeon remove a man’s bowel tumour.
One of the UK’s leading colorectal surgeons, Professor Shafi Ahmed, removed part of the colon of a 51-year-old patient named Tim.
Professor Ahmed perform keyhole surgery to begin with, then the intestine was pulled out of the body through a hole in the abdomen. He later prodded the organ back into Tim using his finger.
Viewers flocked to social media, describing Tim’s guts as looking ‘like an octopus’ and marveling at the medical team’s skills.
The third series of Operation Live aired last night and showed London surgeon, Professor Shafi Ahmed, perform a right hemicolectomy on a man with a tumour in his large intestine
In the closing stages of the operation the bowel was pulled out of the body where it could be sewn back together, and Professor Ahmed poked it back in with his finger when it was done
Professor Ahmed and his team, working at the Royal London Hospital, performed an operation called a right hemicolectomy.
The procedure involved removing the section of Tim’s large intestine which contained a 3cm tumour, and rejoining the large and small intestines with stitches and staples.
It was not known whether Tim’s tumour was cancerous, and it was sent off to the lab for testing.
Viewers of the Channel 5 programme were amazed to see the bowel pulled outside of the body and rested on the patient’s abdomen while the operation was being finished.
Twitter user Mark remarked: ‘His insides look like an octopus’, while Matty asked: ‘Does anything smell?’
Pip Holden added it was ‘incredible that he can see exactly what is what when it all looks the same to the untrained eye’.
Professor Shafi Ahmed, who performed the operation, is one of the UK’s leading colorectal surgeons and works at the Royal London Hospital, part of Barths Health NHS Trust
Mark remarked on the appearance of the colon when it was pulled out of the patient’s body, saying it looked ‘like an octopus’ – the organs were shown in graphic detail on a body camera
Twitter user Matty asked a question many people must have been thinking – the colon is the lower part of the digestive system where food waste is processed and sent towards the rectum
Pip Holden marvelled at how well medics can navigate around the body when it is difficult to tell between organs when they’re inside the body
Tim, the 51-year-old patient, said he was ‘shocked’ when he was first told he had a tumour inside his colon – it is not clear whether the tumour was cancerous or not
The episode, called Removing the Tumour, was the third in the Channel 5 series which started on Tuesday night.
On Tuesday, Kulvinder Lall performed open heart surgery and on Wednesday night, Steven Millington carried out a surprisingly brutal knee replacement op.
In a short interview before last night’s operation started, the patient, Tim, said he had been ‘shocked’ when he first found out he had a tumour in his bowel.
He said it came ‘completely out of the blue’ but he thought it was important to be open with his family about what he was going through, adding: ‘I don’t think there’s any point in hiding things.’
Professor Ahmed said there were no signs of any disease in the liver or the lungs, and the operation went successfully.
Online, Kevin Walsh said he would soon be having the same operation. He tweeted: ‘Fascinating. They chopped up and joined bits of small and large intestine, mostly by keyhole until they pulled the guts out.
‘They are doing that to me in 3 or 4 weeks.’
Tony Carter joked: ‘I’d definitely be worried about doing a poo afterwards in case it all burst open.’
Online, Kevin Walsh said he would soon be having the same operation, tweeting ‘They are doing that to me in 3 or 4 weeks’
Tony Carter joked: ‘I’d definitely be worried about doing a poo afterwards’
Many viewers made jokes about the surgical team’s equipment comparing a protective lid put over the hole in Tim’s abdomen to a a Tupperware lid
And many viewers thought the appearance of the surgical team’s equipment was entertaining, remarking on a tool used to hold open the hole through which the bowel was taken out of the body, and a lid which was put on it when the procedure was done.
Kayte Kayte described one of the implements as a Femidom – a female condom – while Pip Holden said ‘He’s temporarily a Tupperware tub!’
Most people were filled with admiration for the NHS and were sad to see the end of the fascinating show.
Andrew Mawdsley tweeted: ‘Actually quite gutted there is no more #operationlive … Amazing to see what goes on and just how dedicated each and every person in the #NHS’.
Kelly Carthy said: ‘I take my hat off to these guys, you really are in safe hands when you’re in theatre! They do an amazing job #NHS I’m PROUD of you all!’
And user Cassie added ‘I have no words for the #OperationLive series on @channel5_tv just AMAZING. How lucky are we to be able to watch it from our beds?!?!?!’
Kayte Kayte compared an implement used to hold open the surgical wound to a Femidom
Pip Holden joked that Tim had temporarily become a ‘Tupperware tub’ after surgeons put a green lid on the hole through which they had pulled out his bowel
Many viewers, like Andrew Mawdsley, were filled with admiration for the NHS and were sad to see the end of the fascinating show
Kelly Carthy said she was proud of the NHS, tweeting: ‘I take my hat off to these guys, you really are in safe hands when you’re in theatre!’
And user Cassie added ‘I have no words for the #OperationLive series on @channel5_tv just AMAZING. How lucky are we to be able to watch it from our beds?!?!?!’