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The library · 12 specialties · 120 procedures

Find the operation you have been offered.

Every procedure here is being decoded the same way: what is actually done, what it can realistically give you, what can go wrong and how often, and what else you could do instead — including nothing.

01 What each decoded procedure contains

Seven parts, in the order you would want to read them.

Part 1

Is this even for you?

The indications. Who this operation helps, and the patients it is offered to who will not benefit.

Part 2

What is actually done

The steps of the operation, the anaesthetic, how long it takes, what the first week feels like.

Part 3

What it can give you

Benefits in the terms that matter to you, with the honest ceiling on each one.

Part 4

What can go wrong

Risks ordered common, less common, uncommon, extremely rare — never rare-first for drama.

Part 5

What else you could do

Alternatives, their limits, and the consequences of choosing not to treat at all.

Part 6

The expectation gap

Why some patients remain unhappy after a technically perfect operation. Almost no consent form covers this.

Part 7 is the shortest and the most useful: the questions to ask your surgeon — specific to that procedure, phrased so you can read them out.

See a fully decoded example — laser ablation for varicose veins

02 Browse by specialty

Tap a specialty to see what is covered.

Decoded pages are published progressively. If the operation you are facing is not yet written up, ask us and we will prioritise it — that is how the queue is ordered.

01 Cancer surgery +
Anatomical illustration for Cancer surgery

Breast · gastrointestinal · thoracic · gynaecological · head and neck

  1. Breast-conserving surgery with sentinel node biopsy
  2. Mastectomy, with or without immediate reconstruction
  3. Whipple's procedure for pancreatic and periampullary cancer
  4. Gastrectomy for stomach cancer
  5. Colectomy and low anterior resection for colorectal cancer
  6. Lung lobectomy, open or minimally invasive
  7. Radical hysterectomy for cervical and endometrial cancer
  8. Head and neck cancer resection with flap reconstruction
  9. Cytoreductive surgery with HIPEC
  10. Total thyroidectomy with neck dissection
02 Vascular surgery +
Anatomical illustration for Vascular surgery

Veins · arteries · diabetic foot · dialysis access

  1. Endovenous laser ablation (EVLA) for varicose veins
  2. Cyanoacrylate glue ablation
  3. Foam sclerotherapy
  4. Angioplasty and stenting for critical limb ischaemia
  5. Femoro-popliteal and distal bypass
  6. Diabetic foot debridement and limb salvage
  7. Arteriovenous fistula creation for dialysis
  8. Carotid endarterectomy and carotid stenting
  9. Endovascular repair of aortic aneurysm (EVAR)
  10. Iliac vein stenting for venous outflow obstruction
03 Cardiac and paediatric cardiac +
Anatomical illustration for Cardiac and paediatric cardiac

Adult cardiac surgery · interventional cardiology · congenital heart disease

  1. Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG)
  2. Coronary angioplasty and stenting
  3. Aortic and mitral valve replacement
  4. Valve repair, including mitral repair
  5. Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI)
  6. Device closure of ASD and VSD
  7. Device closure of patent ductus arteriosus
  8. Total correction of Tetralogy of Fallot
  9. Arterial switch operation for transposition
  10. Pacemaker and ICD implantation
04 Fertility and IVF +
Anatomical illustration for Fertility and IVF

Assisted reproduction · male factor · fertility preservation

  1. IVF cycle with fresh embryo transfer
  2. ICSI for male-factor infertility
  3. Intrauterine insemination (IUI)
  4. Frozen embryo transfer
  5. Preimplantation genetic testing of embryos
  6. Egg freezing and fertility preservation
  7. Donor egg and donor sperm cycles
  8. Surgical sperm retrieval: TESA, PESA, micro-TESE
  9. Hysteroscopy and laparoscopy for fibroids, endometriosis and adhesions
  10. Workup for repeated implantation failure and recurrent miscarriage
05 Orthopaedics +
Anatomical illustration for Orthopaedics

Joint replacement · sports injury · deformity correction

  1. Total knee replacement
  2. Robotic-assisted knee replacement
  3. Total hip replacement
  4. Revision joint replacement
  5. Partial (unicompartmental) knee replacement
  6. ACL reconstruction
  7. Arthroscopic rotator cuff repair
  8. Shoulder replacement
  9. Limb lengthening and deformity correction
  10. Foot and ankle reconstruction, including bunion surgery
06 Cosmetic surgery +
Anatomical illustration for Cosmetic surgery

Face · breast · body contouring

  1. Rhinoplasty
  2. Facelift and neck lift
  3. Blepharoplasty (eyelid surgery)
  4. Breast augmentation
  5. Breast reduction and lift
  6. Liposuction
  7. Abdominoplasty (tummy tuck)
  8. Gynaecomastia correction
  9. Gluteal fat grafting
  10. Hair transplantation
07 Plastic and reconstructive surgery +
Anatomical illustration for Plastic and reconstructive surgery

Microsurgery · congenital · post-cancer and post-burn reconstruction

  1. DIEP flap breast reconstruction
  2. Implant-based breast reconstruction
  3. Free flap reconstruction for head and neck defects
  4. Cleft lip repair
  5. Cleft palate repair
  6. Burn contracture release and skin grafting
  7. Hand surgery: tendon and nerve repair
  8. Scar revision
  9. Lymphoedema surgery: lymphovenous anastomosis and node transfer
  10. Facial reanimation for nerve palsy
08 Paediatric surgery +
Anatomical illustration for Paediatric surgery

Newborn surgery · congenital anomalies · childhood tumours

  1. Inguinal hernia repair in children
  2. Orchidopexy for undescended testis
  3. Hypospadias repair
  4. Pyloromyotomy for infantile pyloric stenosis
  5. Pull-through for Hirschsprung's disease
  6. Repair of anorectal malformation
  7. Repair of oesophageal atresia and tracheo-oesophageal fistula
  8. Congenital diaphragmatic hernia repair
  9. Surgery for Wilms tumour and neuroblastoma
  10. Laparoscopic appendicectomy in children
09 Urology +
Anatomical illustration for Urology

Stones · prostate · uro-oncology · kidney transplant

  1. TURP and HoLEP for enlarged prostate
  2. Robotic radical prostatectomy
  3. Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) for kidney stones
  4. Ureteroscopy with laser lithotripsy
  5. Extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (ESWL)
  6. Radical and partial nephrectomy
  7. Kidney transplantation, living and deceased donor
  8. TURBT for bladder cancer
  9. Pyeloplasty for PUJ obstruction
  10. Varicocele surgery and procedures for male infertility
10 Liver and hepatobiliary transplant +
Anatomical illustration for Liver and hepatobiliary transplant

Living and deceased donor transplant · liver and biliary surgery

  1. Living donor liver transplantation
  2. Deceased donor liver transplantation
  3. Paediatric liver transplantation
  4. Donor hepatectomy — the donor's own operation, consented separately
  5. Liver resection for hepatocellular carcinoma and metastases
  6. Transarterial chemoembolisation (TACE) and radioembolisation
  7. Hepaticojejunostomy for bile duct injury and stricture
  8. Surgery and shunts for portal hypertension
  9. Excision of choledochal cyst
  10. Complex laparoscopic cholecystectomy
11 Neurosurgery +
Anatomical illustration for Neurosurgery

Brain · spine · vascular neurosurgery · functional neurosurgery

  1. Craniotomy for brain tumour, including awake craniotomy
  2. Endoscopic transsphenoidal pituitary surgery
  3. Lumbar microdiscectomy
  4. Cervical discectomy and fusion, and disc replacement
  5. Spinal fusion for instability and deformity
  6. Aneurysm clipping and endovascular coiling
  7. Treatment of arteriovenous malformation
  8. Deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's disease
  9. Epilepsy surgery
  10. Shunt surgery and endoscopic third ventriculostomy for hydrocephalus
12 Bone marrow transplant +
Anatomical illustration for Bone marrow transplant

Malignant and non-malignant haematology · adult and paediatric · cellular therapy

  1. Autologous transplant for multiple myeloma
  2. Autologous transplant for lymphoma
  3. Matched sibling donor allogeneic transplant
  4. Matched unrelated donor transplant
  5. Haploidentical (half-matched family donor) transplant
  6. Transplant for thalassaemia major
  7. Transplant for sickle cell disease
  8. Transplant for aplastic anaemia
  9. Transplant for paediatric leukaemia
  10. CAR-T cell therapy

03 A note on this list

These are operations, not products.

Two entries here deserve a word. Donor hepatectomy is listed on its own because a living liver donor is a healthy person undergoing a major operation for someone else — their consent is separate, private, and revocable up to the last moment. And IVF and bone marrow transplant are not single operations but treatment programmes measured in weeks or months; we decode them as pathways, because that is what you are actually agreeing to.

Start with a conversation, not a quotation.

Send us your case and we will tell you honestly whether a consultation would help you, and what it would involve.

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