1Preoperative diagnosis
What they thought was wrong going in. Often differs from the postoperative diagnosis — that difference is informative.
Toolkit
Operative Report Decoder
Your operative report was written for another surgeon. This walks through it with you — which classification system it uses, what the words describe, where on the pelvis it happened, and what to ask next. Nothing you tap leaves this page.
Everything you tap stays in this browser tab. Nothing is uploaded, saved or sent anywhere — this tool makes no network requests at all. It is a reading aid, not a diagnosis.
Choose compartments or procedures and they light up here.
Which system does your report use?
Look for a stage, a letter-and-number code, or a complexity level. If you cannot tell, that is a normal answer.
What this means, in plain language
As you make selections, a plain-language reading builds up here.
Words in the report
Every operative report has the same nine sections
Whatever the surgery, the document is built the same way. Knowing what each heading is for makes the whole thing readable.
2Postoperative diagnosis
What they concluded after looking. If this differs from the line above, something was found, ruled out, or reclassified.
3Procedure performed
The named operations, usually in billing language. Each name is a specific technique, and the specific word matters more than it looks.
4Findings
What was actually seen. The most useful section in the document and the one most people skip.
5Description of procedure
The narrative, step by step. Dense, but this is where technique appears — what was removed, what was left, what was repaired and how.
6Specimens
What was sent to pathology. If a specimen is listed, there is a separate pathology report you are entitled to.
7Estimated blood loss
A routine number. Useful context for how involved the operation was, not a quality score.
8Complications
Usually reads "none". If something is recorded here it will be explicit.
9Disposition and plan
Where you went afterwards and what was arranged. Follow-up intervals live here.