When the anesthesia care provider yells the code “Malignant Hyperthermia!” during a routine surgery there are approximately 15 minutes to save this patient’s life, you are excited but not panicking--- why?
Like silkworm moths, butterflies and spiders, caddisfly larvae spin silk, but they do so underwater. Now, University of Utah researchers have discovered why the fly’s silk is sticky when wet and how that may make it valuable as an adhesive tape during surgery.
Adam Berger, M.D., a Cancer Liaison Physician (CLP) at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, recently received an Outstanding Performance Award for going above and beyond the scope of the normal duties of serving as a liaison between the hospital’s cancer program and the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer (CoC). As a Cancer Liaison, he is serving a three-year appointment and is among a national network of over 1,600 volunteer physicians who are responsible for providing leadership and direction to establish, maintain and support their facility’s cancer program.
A major study shows that a minimally-invasive procedure is as effective and safe as the gold standard for treating blockages of the carotid artery, giving patients who prefer a less invasive procedure a proven alternative.
Surgeons at UC San Diego Medical Center have performed the nation’s first incision-free myotomy, a procedure to treat achalasia, a distressing disorder which causes difficulty swallowing, regurgitation and chest pain. The innovative surgery, performed through the mouth, is the most recent in a series of groundbreaking clinical trial surgeries being evaluated by the UCSD Center for the Future of Surgery.
Nearly 58 percent of the surgeries performed in hospitals were done as outpatient procedures.
A collaboration between the Center for Robotic Surgery at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) and the University at Buffalo (UB)’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences has produced one of the world’s first simulators that closely approximates the “touch and feel” of the da Vinci TM robotic surgical system.
As many as half of all women and a quarter of men over the age of 50 can expect to sustain a fractured bone related to osteoporosis or low bone density. To enhance prevention and treatment of these fragility fractures, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center has implemented an innovative program called Own the Bone™ developed by the American Orthopaedic Association.
Dr. Francesco Rubino, chief of gastrointestinal metabolic surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, is now enrolling overweight and mildly obese patients -- those with a body mass index (BMI) of 28 to 35 -- in a study of gastric bypass surgery aimed at reversing Type 2 diabetes. Because of their non-morbidly obese status, these patients do not qualify for the surgery under current guidelines.
A new study published in the March issue of Anesthesiology raises awareness for an additional risk category for patients undergoing routine coronary artery bypass surgery – low to moderate levels of inflammation.
One year post-surgery, patients who underwent Descemet’s stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK) experienced greater cell loss overall compared to those who underwent penetrating keratoplasty (PKP), according to a new analysis of data collected from the Cornea Donor Study (CDS) Investigator Group’s 2008 SMAS.
A comparison of two types of minimally invasive surgery to repair kidney blockages that prevent urine from draining normally to the bladder found that robot-assisted surgery was faster and resulted in less blood loss and shorter hospital stays.
Lung transplantation is a well-known therapy for patients with end-stage lung disease, but, as with other patients waiting for organs for transplantation, there are more recipients waiting than donors available. A potential solution for patients with end-stage lung disease is donation after cardiac death (DCD). Mayo Clinic reports its - and Minnesota’s - first lung transplantation from DCD in the February issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
UT Southwestern Medical Center surgeons completed the North Texas region’s first robot-assisted bladder removal using the DaVinci system, a four-armed robot controlled by the surgeon via a joystick.
Anesthesiologists Caution Patients to Research Anesthetic Requirements, Providers and Surgical Facilities Before Going Under the Knife. Beware of promises for quick fixes and pain free procedures.
Building on his Nobel Prize-winning work creating fluorescent proteins that light up the inner workings of cells, a team of researchers led by Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator Roger Tsien, PhD, professor of pharmacology, chemistry and biochemistry at the University of California, San Diego and the Moores UCSD Cancer Center has developed biological probes that can stick to and light up tumors in mice.
Repairing birth defects in the womb. Inserting a tiny laser into the mother’s uterus to seal off an abnormal blood flow and save fetal twins. Advancing the science that may allow doctors to deliver cells or DNA to treat sickle cell anemia and other genetic diseases before birth. These are examples of the still-emerging field of fetal surgery.
The more specialized a hospital is in orthopedic surgical care, the better the outcomes appear to be for patients undergoing hip and knee replacement surgery, University of Iowa researchers report in a new study of Medicare patients.
Few treatments are available to help obese adolescents who are unable to lose weight and are already suffering from obesity-related health problems. Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB), an option for adults in the United States since 2001, is showing promise for teens. The Center for Adolescent Bariatric Surgery, which opened at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital in 2006, recently performed its 100th LAGB procedure.
Hospitals are beginning to use a new robotic catheter to treat abnormal heart rhythms. The robotic system enhances a doctor's natural ability, and is expected to contribute to improved outcomes.
Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding surgery can effectively treat obesity in adolescents and seems to offer a better alternative than gastric bypass surgery, but further study is needed to determine whether it’s better than nonsurgical options, a UT Southwestern Medical Center surgeon writes.
Differences might exist in the amount of pain medicine given to Latino and white children after surgery, found a new, small study.
Cardiologists and heart imaging specialists at 15 medical centers in eight countries, and led by researchers at Johns Hopkins, have enrolled the first dozen patients in a year-long investigation to learn whether the subtle squeezing of blood flow through the inner layers of the heart is better than traditional SPECT nuclear imaging tests and other diagnostic radiology procedures for accurately tracking the earliest signs of coronary artery clogs.
A surgeon and an electrophysiologist last week used a novel, minimally-invasive procedure to treat a dangerous arrhythmia in a 61-year-old lawyer from east Texas. The physicians used only two small incisions, rather than six, which is common.
How laparoscopic technique allows surgeons to perform colon surgery through small incisions.
NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital is the only medical center in the United States to offer minimally invasive liver donation for pediatric transplantation. Surgeons use a laparoscopic technique to remove a section of liver from a living donor for implantation in a pediatric patient -- typically a parent donating to their child. The innovative approach promises dramatically improved recovery for the donor.
Bariatric weight-loss surgery may sound dangerous and complicated, but a Geisinger physician warns that the real danger may be a life of obesity.
You'd think folks who've had knee replacement surgery -- finally able to walk and exercise without pain -- would lose weight instead of put on pounds, but surprisingly that's not the case, according to a University of Delaware study. Researchers Joseph Zeni and Lynn Snyder-Mackler in the Department of Physical Therapy in UD's College of Health Sciences found that patients typically drop weight in the first few weeks after total knee arthroplasty (TKA), but then the number on the scale starts creeping upward, with an average weight gain of 14 pounds in two years.
A novel surgery using transplanted bone and cartilage may help young patients avoid a hip replacement after a specific traumatic injury to the hip joint, according to a case study by orthopedic trauma specialists at Hospital for Special Surgery.
Surgeons are less likely than family physicians or patients to view surgery as the preferred treatment option for low back pain, according to a study in the January 1 issue of Spine.
Surgery provides better results than nonsurgical treatment for most patients with back pain related to a herniated disk—but not for those receiving workers' compensation for work-related injuries, reports a study in the January 1 issue of Spine.
Congenital heart defects are the most common birth defects in humans, with one third of affected children requiring intervention in infancy. While neurobehavioral symptoms have been identified in some of these children, a study now suggests that a cooling technique often used in heart surgery does not impair neurological outcomes.
Preserving organs on ice prior to transplantation, an approach known as cold storage or CS, has been the standard practice in liver transplant for 20 years. Now there is new evidence that a technique called hypothermic machine perfusion (HMP) may offer an improvement, according to the first-ever study comparing the impact of the two techniques on transplant outcomes.
A patient surveillance system implemented by anesthesiologists at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and presented in a study in the February Anesthesiology has proven to dramatically decrease the number of rescue calls and ICU transfers in postsurgical patients, allowing doctors to intervene in more cases before a crisis situation develops.
Detailed information on the first facial transplantation procedure performed in the United States is presented in the January issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading provider of information and business intelligence for students, professionals, and institutions in medicine, nursing, allied health, and pharmacy.
Current projections estimate that the number of tobacco-related deaths in China will increase to 2 million annually by 2025. A new study in the February issue of the journal Anesthesiology looks at whether Chinese anesthesiologists are willing to help their patients quit smoking, and ultimately help reduce these projected tobacco-related deaths.
A simple technique called mirror therapy seems effective in preventing phantom limb pain in patients undergoing amputation of an arm or leg, suggests a study in the February 2010 issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).
Is it possible for cardiac surgery teams to completely eliminate medical errors? That's the goal of an ambitious project—called the "Flawless Operative Cardiovascular Unified Systems" (FOCUS) initiative—being undertaken by the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists (SCA). An introduction and update on the FOCUS initiative appears in a special article in the February 2010 issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia.
A common complication following surgery in elderly patients is postoperative delirium, a state of confusion that can lead to long-term health problems and cause some elderly patients to complain that they “never felt the same” again after an operation. But a new study by Johns Hopkins researchers suggests that simply limiting the depth of sedation during procedures could safely cut the risk of postoperative delirium by 50 percent.
Loyola among the first medical centers in U.S. to use robotics to treat lung cancer.
Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center evaluated data over a 36-year period from the National Hospital Discharge Survey and concluded in a paper appearing in the January issue of Archives of Surgery that appendicitis may be caused by undetermined viral infection or infections, said Dr. Edward Livingston, chief of GI/endocrine surgery at UT Southwestern and senior author of the report.
Obesity is a condition that often follows family lines, but bariatric surgery offers hope for breaking this generational pattern.
The public, including parents of babies with severe heart defects, is invited to submit questions for inclusion in a tweet chat about surgical approaches for heart defects to be held from noon-2 p.m. Jan. 20 on Twitter.
New analysis of data from the 2008 Specular Microscopy Ancillary Study (SMAS), a subset of the CDS, found that the preoperative donor cell count of endothelial cells, previously considered to be an important predictor of a successful transplant, did not correlate with graft success.
A complete evaluation, including an assessment of post-void residual volume, is key when evaluating a female patient for surgery to treat stress urinary incontinence (SUI), according to a new clinical practice guideline released today by the American Urological Association (AUA).
Cardiologists at the University of Illinois and Jesse Brown VA medical Centers are among the first in the Chicago area to offer an innovative approach to commonly performed cardiac procedures that reduce complications, discomfort, recovery time and costs.
Worth magazine has selected Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute as one of the United States’ top 25 hospitals for cardiac bypass surgery.
A multi-disciplinary team of Penn researchers, including diabetes, weight loss and bariatric surgery experts, are conducting a study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to determine if bariatric surgery, either gastric bypass or adjustable gastric banding surgery, is more effective than lifestyle modification to reduce weight and ultimately treat Type 2 diabetes.
Bariatric surgery is a procedure designed to help patients lose weight, but what may be even more important is that it can also help resolve diabetes for patients with this disease.
Most breast cancer surgeons’ practices do not follow standards associated with the best quality of care, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center. These standards include consulting with other specialists and providing resources and education to help patients make treatment decisions.
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