system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
How do surgeons open you up without you bleeding to death?

It seems that whenever I get a cut on the surface of my skin, a bunch of blood wells up. But then I see pictures of people completely opened up on the operating table, there doesn't seem to be any profuse bleeding, just a bunch of organs lying there. How do they do that?
gpt
* When you cut yourself, the cuts are usually smaller than the large cut a surgeon makes. You perceive there to be more blood lost in the smaller cut. We actually bleed at a pretty slow rate, provided we don't rupture an artery.
* Have you watched a surgery? You still *do* bleed profusely during surgery. There's constant blood loss throughout.
* The surgeon masterfully cuts around major blood vessels and ligatures / sutures / tourniquets / cauters any vessels that cannot be avoided.
* Scalpels are extremely sharp and minimize collateral damage to smaller blood vessels.
* Anesthesia helps keep the blood pressure of the patient down, reducing overall flow speed.
* Spilled blood is removed via sponge or drain in order to prevent further loss through cohesive capillary action.
* Surgeons act quickly. You never want to leave a patient open for too long, obviously. The less time you spend in there, the less bleeding.