8 BRUTAL "Ancient" Medical Procedures Doctors Still Use Today

Added: 2026-05-20

[00:00:00]- Eight of the most brutal medical procedures that still happen today.

[00:00:03]Some of them are not for the faint of heart.

[00:00:05](beep) When most people think about brutal medicine, they imagine ancient history, medieval surgery, amputations without anesthesia.

[00:00:12]But here's the reality.

[00:00:14]Even in modern hospitals, (bubble popping tone) there are still procedures that can feel absolutely merciless and intense.

[00:00:20]So today, we're breaking down some of the most brutal medical procedures that happen today (bell dinging) in modern medicine.

[00:00:26]So brace yourself and let's dive right in.

[00:00:28](beep) Number eight, shoulder reduction.

[00:00:30]We're starting with something we see all the time in the emergency department, a shoulder dislocation. (bubble popping tone) In fact, the shoulder joint is actually the most commonly dislocated joint in the human body.

[00:00:40]On the ER pain scale, many patients rate this one easy as a eight or nine, sometimes even 10 out of 10.

[00:00:46]But why is it so common and brutal to experience?

[00:00:49]Well, that's because the ball of your upper arm sits in a relatively shallow socket.

[00:00:54]That design allows incredible mobility, which is great, but it also makes the joint particularly unstable.

[00:01:00]So how do we fix it in the ER?

[00:01:01]We perform something called a reduction, which means we physically guide the joint back into his normal position.

[00:01:07]Doctors use controlled traction and rotation techniques to slide the humerus back into socket.

[00:01:13]Sometimes patients receive sedation or pain medication, but occasionally, it has to be done quickly with minimal medication, which is definitely when you may hear a patient holler from inside the medical bay, especially if the shoulder muscles are spasming and fighting against the movement.

[00:01:28]But when it finally goes back in place, you will hear a loud pop. (bubble popping tone) The good news is patients often feel immediate relief after the joint is reduced, but the process of getting there can be extremely uncomfortable.

[00:01:40](beep) Number seven, temporarily stopping the heart.

[00:01:43]Now, this one sounds absolutely insane and mentally intense, but it's in fact true. (bell dinging) Doctors sometimes intentionally stop the heart for a few seconds.

[00:01:52]This usually happens when treating a rapid heart rhythm called supraventricular tachycardia.

[00:01:57]In SVT, the electrical signals in the heart gets stuck in a loop causing the heart to beat extremely fast, sometimes 180, 200 beats per minute or even higher.

[00:02:05]So how do we fix it?

[00:02:06]One option is a medication called adenosine through an IV.

[00:02:10]Adenosine works by briefly blocking electrical conduction through a key relay point in the heart, and for a moment, the heart can actually pause.

[00:02:18]Many people describe a sudden wave of chest pressure flushing in the face, dizziness, and a very real sensation of impending doom.

[00:02:26]Some patients even rate that moment as a quick seven or eight out of 10 on the discomfort scale.

[00:02:31]A lot of them say the same thing afterward.

[00:02:33]"Doc, I swear I thought I was going to die."

[00:02:36]But that brief interruption allows the electrical system to reboot itself and within seconds, the normal rhythm often returns.

[00:02:42]It's definitely a strange experience for the patient, but in the ER, it's one of the fastest and most effective ways to reset a runaway heartbeat.

[00:02:49](beep) Number six, ECMO.

[00:02:50]Now, this next one is on a completely different level.

[00:02:53]In fact, it's one of the most extreme lifesaving procedures in modern medicine.

[00:02:57]And in simple terms, it means doctors temporarily take over the work of your heart and lungs using a machine.

[00:03:03]This procedure is usually considered when someone is in severe cardiac or respiratory failure, and standard treatments just aren't working.

[00:03:11]But ECMO isn't something that can be used for every patient.

[00:03:14]Because it's such a complex and resource intensive treatment, doctors have to carefully choose who is most likely to benefit from it.

[00:03:23]So how does it work?

[00:03:24]Doctors place very large tubes called cannulas into major blood vessels, usually large veins and arteries in the groin or neck.

[00:03:30]These tubes remove blood from the body and send it into a specialized machine.

[00:03:34]That machine adds oxygen, removes carbon dioxide, and then pumps the blood back into the patient's circulation.

[00:03:41]In other words, the ECMO machine temporarily acts like an artificial heart and lung system.

[00:03:46]From a procedural standpoint, this is an easy 10 out of 10 moment, in terms of intensity. (bell dinging) The room fills with specialists like myself, equipment rolls in and the team moves quickly because the patient's life is literally hanging in the balance.

[00:03:59](beep) Number five, fasciotomy.

[00:04:01]Our next brutal procedure happens when pressure builds up inside a muscle compartment so severe that it starts cutting off blood supply to that tissue.

[00:04:10]This condition is called compartment syndrome, and it can easily happen after major trauma.

[00:04:14]Here's the problem though.

[00:04:15]Muscles in your arms and legs are surrounded by a thick layer of connective tissue called fascia.

[00:04:21]Normally that's fine, but if bleeding or swelling happens inside that space, the pressure rises rapidly, and when the pressure gets high enough blood can no longer reach the muscles or nerves.

[00:04:32]That means the tissue literally starts dying.

[00:04:34]On the ER pain scale, this one easily hits a nine or even 10 out of 10.

[00:04:39]So what do surgeons or ER physicians, like myself, do in that situation?

[00:04:43]Slice, open the muscle compartment and release the pressure building inside.

[00:04:47]Doctors make long surgical cuts through the skin and fascia to release the pressure inside the limb.

[00:04:52]Unfortunately, it's not pretty (bubble popping tone) and it's definitely not cosmetic, but the goal is simple, relieve the pressure and restore blood flow before permanent damage occurs.

[00:05:01](beep) Number four, chest tube insertion.

[00:05:04]Next up is a procedure that can look straight out of a trauma movie, but it's something we perform in emergency medicine all the time.

[00:05:10]It's called a thoracostomy or a chest tube insertion, and it usually happens when something has gone very, very wrong inside the chest of one of our patients.

[00:05:19]This procedure is used when air, blood, or fluid builds up in the space around the lungs.

[00:05:25]The lung can collapse and suddenly the patient can't breathe properly.

[00:05:28]We see it come into the hospital after things like car accidents, stab wounds, even spontaneous lung collapse in otherwise healthy people, and it can be seriously scary.

[00:05:37]So how do we fix it? (bubble popping tone) Doctors make an incision between the ribs carefully guiding a tube into the chest cavity.

[00:05:43]Now, keep in mind the ribs are packed with nerves, even just numbing this area with medication can make the procedure pretty uncomfortable.

[00:05:51]The tube is then advanced into the pleural space, so trapped air, blood, or fluid can drain out.

[00:05:56]And sometimes, when the tube enters the chest, you can actually hear the trapped air rushing out as the pressure is released.

[00:06:03](beep) Number three, emergency cricothyrotomy.

[00:06:06]Now, this next procedure is something ER doctors hope they almost never have to do, and it happens when a patient cannot breathe and the normal methods of securing an airway have failed.

[00:06:16]This can happen after severe facial trauma, major swelling from an allergic reaction, burns to the airway or catastrophic injuries that just completely block the throat.

[00:06:25]And when oxygen can't get into the lungs, time becomes incredibly limited.

[00:06:29]A cricothyrotomy includes making a small incision in the front of the neck through a structure called the cricothyroid membrane, located just below the Adam's apple.

[00:06:38]Once the opening is made, a breathing tube is inserted directly into the airway so oxygen can reach the lungs.

[00:06:45]Now, imagine the pressure in that room.

[00:06:47]The patient is struggling to breathe, oxygen levels are failing, and the medical team has only seconds to restore airflow.

[00:06:53]From a stress standpoint for both the patient and the doctors, this is easily a 10 out of 10 moment on the brutal scale.

[00:07:00]When done correctly, the procedure can take less than a minute, but those seconds can mean the literal difference between life and death.

[00:07:07](beep) Number two, external fixation for severe fractures.

[00:07:11]Now, imagine breaking a bone so badly that a simple cast (bubble popping tone) won't even come close to fixing it.

[00:07:16]We're talking about high-energy trauma, things like extreme motorcycle crashes, severe sports injuries, and in some of these situations, the bone doesn't just crack, it shatters.

[00:07:26]Sometimes the bone fragments even push through the skin.

[00:07:29]When injuries look like this, surgeons sometimes use a device called an external fixator to stabilize the limb.

[00:07:35]During the procedure, surgeons place long metal pins through the skin and directly into the bone on either side of the fracture.

[00:07:42]These pins are then connected to a rigid metal frame that sits outside the body.

[00:07:47]Why go through all this?

[00:07:48]Because when bones are shattered and surrounding tissue is badly damaged, trying to immediately repair everything in one big surgery can actually make things worse.

[00:07:57]External fixation allows doctors to quickly stabilize the limb, control bleeding and swelling, and protect nerves and blood vessels while the body recovers from the initial trauma.

[00:08:07](beep) Number one, emergent amputation.

[00:08:10]The final procedure on today's list is one of the most dramatic interventions in modern medicine.

[00:08:14]Now, surgeons and trauma teams will go to extraordinary lengths to try to save a damaged limb.

[00:08:20]They'll attempt to restore blood flow, repair shattered bones, or injuries where the blood vessels supplying the limb are completely destroyed.

[00:08:27]But sometimes the injury is simply too severe, and without circulation, tissue begins to die, and dying tissue doesn't just sit there quietly.

[00:08:35]It does detrimental things to the rest of the body.

[00:08:38]So doctors and surgeons may have to act fast.

[00:08:40]In the operating room, the damaged portion of the limb is surgically removed in order to stop the spread of infection and stabilize the patient before things spiral out of control.

[00:08:49]This is not something that medical staff take lightly.

[00:08:52]This is a moment that carries enormous weight for the medical team and the patient.

[00:08:56]As extreme as this sounds, emergency amputations have saved countless lives.

[00:09:01]Still, in the moment, it's one of the most powerful reminders in medicine that sometimes the most aggressive intervention is the one that gives a patient their best chance of survival.

[00:09:11](beep) That's been a quick breakdown of some of the most brutal medical procedures that happen in modern medicine today.

[00:09:17]I'm curious, is there a medical procedure you've experienced that felt absolutely brutal? (bell dinging) Let me know in the comments below.

[00:09:23]If you enjoyed this, go ahead and binge watch this playlist right here.

[00:09:26]Make sure you watch everything.

[00:09:28]As well, please make sure that you subscribe, turn on your bell notifications and hit that like button for me.

[00:09:33]Thank you so much for watching and stay healthy, my friends.