Shadowing Practice: Splenectomy: step-by-step - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Hello and welcome to the GYO surgery series.

This will be the first of several different explanations of individual surgeries that we perform in Gynonk,

including some photos that I'll have referenced, as well as some handmade drawings.

the first surgery that we'll be going over is the splenectomy

and I only own the drawings other pictures will be referenced on individual slides

and at the end this is for educational purposes only this is not intended to be medical advice

so reference this lovely picture on the right the removal of

the spleen is occasionally required to achieve optimal surgical cytoreduction in ovarian cancer

and so knowing the relevant anatomy is important and

so we'll go over the ligaments attaching to the spleen as well as the blood supply to the spleen

so there are approximately five ligaments the splenophrenic ligament the splenorenal the pancreaticosplenic,

the splenocolic, and the gastrosplenic ligaments.

They are labeled here, 1 through 4.

We have 1, 2, 3, 4, splenofrenic, which you can't see,

but the diaphragm would be up here, the splenorenal, the pancreaticosplenic, the splenocolic, and then over here we have the gastrosplenic.

Each of these ligaments are transected during a splenectomy.

And then as far as our blood supply goes, it's a little bit easier.

You just have the splenic artery and the splenic vein.

As you can see here, these come off the celiac trunk.

The artery comes off the celiac trunk, and the celiac trunk, as you may remember, is the splenic artery, the left gastric,

and the common hepatic, and then the splenic vein coming back into the portal vein.

the basic steps of a splenectomy are entering the lesser sac mobilizing the spleen

and then ligating the vessels

which sounds very easy however in practice is definitely scary for gynonks there is an anterior

or posterior approach

and the choice depends on the distribution of disease whatever approach would be easier based on disease

and i will be going over the anterior your approach in this short lecture.

So first entering the lesser sac of the omentum, you want to identify the gastrocolic ligament.

This lies between the stomach's greater curvature and the transverse colon.

The anterior leaf of the omentum attaches to the greater curvature of the stomach via the gastrocolic ligament, and the posterior leaf attaches to the margin of the transverse colon.

And the lesser sac is kind of between these two leaves.

So identifying the ligament and then transecting this in order to open the lesser sac.

The dissection, then this is another depiction of opening the lesser sac, but the omentum is no longer there.

And as you can see here, this is the gastrocolic ligament here.

The dissection continues along the transverse colon with mobilization of the

entire splenic flexure of the colon to eventually reach the splenocolic ligament,

highlighted here, and then you're also dissecting upward to the greater curvature of the stomach towards the gastrosplenic ligament.

That's here.

once mobilized you can grasp the spleen

and elevate it medially this will expose the splenophrenic ligament here

and you can continue to dissect the spleen from the gastrosplenic ligament as well as the splenocolic ligament

so you can see the gastrosplenic ligament in this picture as well as the splenocolic ligament here you'll continue dissecting

that and then also the splenofrenic ligament, with this being the diaphragm.

The gastrosplenic ligament is the most vascular and contains those short gastric arteries, so we are very careful in ligating and dividing these.

And then finally, the spleen is elevated to the incision.

You do some blunt dissection in order to identify the splenic artery and the splenic vein.

Each one of these vessels are individually ligated and the artery is ligated first in order to prevent engorgement of the spleen.

You can use, as depicted here, a right angle placed underneath the artery or individual

vein artery or vascular pedicle

and you can use a 2 -0 silk you will then place a second 2 -0 silk

and then on the proximal end you can either tie

or clip this end and then divide the artery vein

or other vascular pedicle and then

if you're done with the artery you do the vein and that is the end of the splinectomy.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “Splenectomy: step-by-step”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: ligament, artery, spleen, splenic, vein. This video has 54 sentences and 709 words to shadow. The speech runs for 5:25. The speaker talks at a steady 131 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 72% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
artery noun	/ˈɑɹ.təɹ.i/	Any of the muscular- and elastic-walled blood vessels forming part of the circulation system by which blood is conveyed away from the heart regardless of its…
vein noun	/veɪn/	A blood vessel that transports blood from the capillaries back to the heart.
lesser adjective	/ˈlɛsɚ/	Of two (or, rarely, more than two) things: the smaller in size (littler), in value, in importance etc.
colon noun	/ˈkoʊ.lən/	The punctuation mark ⟨:⟩.
leaf noun	/lif/	The usually green and flat organ that represents the most prominent feature of most vegetative plants.
trunk noun	/tɹʌŋk/	The usually single, more or less upright part of a tree, between the roots and the branches.
attach verb	/əˈtæt͡ʃ/	To fasten, to join to (literally and figuratively).
anterior adjective	/ænˈtɪɹ.i.ɚ/	Nearer the forward end, especially in the front of the body; nearer the head or forepart of an animal.
vascular adjective	/ˈvæskjələ/	Relating to the flow of fluids, such as blood, lymph, or sap, through the body of an animal or plant, or to the vessels that carry such fluids
stomach noun	/ˈstʌmək/	An organ in animals that stores food in the process of digestion.
vessel noun	/ˈvɛsəl/	Any craft designed for transportation on or in water, such as a ship, boat, or submarine.
divide verb	/dɪˈvaɪd/	To split or separate (something) into two or more parts.
silk noun	/sɪlk/	A fine fiber excreted by the silkworm or other arthropod (such as a spider).
explanation noun	/ˌɛkspləˈneɪʃən/	The act or process of explaining.
label noun	/ˈleɪ.bəl/	A small ticket or sign giving information about something to which it is attached or intended to be attached.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
come off verb	To become detached.
going over noun	An inspection, examination, review, or investigation.
go over verb	To look at carefully; to scrutinize; to analyze.

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 7 contractions and reduced forms, such as we'll, you're, can't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: explanation /ˌɛkspləˈneɪʃən/, occasionally /əˈkeɪʒənəli/, dissection /dɪˈsɛkʃən/, depiction /dɪˈpɪkʃən/, flexure /ˈflɛkʃə(ɹ)/
Long words — get the stress right: anterior /ænˈtɪɹ.i.ɚ/, explanation /ˌɛkspləˈneɪʃən/, occasionally /əˈkeɪʒənəli/, anatomy /əˈnætəmi/, individually /ˌɪndɪˈvɪd͡ʒ(u)əli/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like artery, vein, lesser.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: Splenectomy: step-by-step - Learn English Speaking with Video

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