The patient, now entirely naked, is carefully moved to the operating table. The respiratory tube, blood pressure monitor and venous cannulas are all checked by the anaesthetist. Legs and arms are strapped to the operating table. The metal frame to secure the green operating cloth is screwed down. The cloth is stretched over the frame level with the patient’s neck. Only the body is now in the surgeon’s field of vision.

A swab is inserted into a pair of forceps. The stomach area is wiped down three times with the swab, which is soaked in a solution of alcohol. The brownish-red liquid forms a little reflecting puddle in the navel. It runs over the stomach and drips off both sides of the body on to the operating table.

Two smooth parallel lines on the skin, coloured dark by the disinfectant, are all that can now be seen of the cleansed stomach wound.