Mayo Clinic urologists will discuss findings on enlarged prostates, bladder cancer and other research and will be available to provide expert comment to journalists on others’ studies.
A simple six-question quiz, typically used to assess disabilities in the elderly, could help doctors determine which kidney dialysis patients of any age are at the greatest risk of death, new Johns Hopkins research suggests.
• In the largest study of its kind, a variant within the multidrug resistance 1 (MDR-1) gene in kidney transplant donors was linked to a 69% increased risk for long-term failure of transplanted organs.
• This variant affects the expression of the protein that the MDR-1 gene encodes, which pumps drugs out of cells. (Immunosuppressant drugs are critical for preventing organ rejection but are also toxic to the kidneys.)
The ideal sedative for oral surgery should make the patient comfortable during the surgery and should wear off quickly enough that the patient can leave the dental chair soon after the procedure. Finding the best plan of anesthetic treatment is essential to the success of dental procedures such as the extraction of wisdom teeth.
Nearly all groups of patients with spinal stenosis—but not smokers—do better with surgery than with nonsurgical treatment, reports a study in the October 1 issue of Spine. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.
Physical and mental decline are common side effects of hospital stays, particularly among older patients. That can hold true even if someone is hospitalized for just a day or two for a common procedure such as knee replacement surgery.
Women who have a positive urine culture test on the day of surgery for a pelvic-floor disorder are more likely to have a urinary tract infection (UTI) in the first six weeks after the procedure. These findings were presented this past week by researchers from Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine at the American Urogynecologic Society’s 33rd Annual Scientific Meeting in Chicago.
Simple postoperative activities such as deep coughing, getting out of bed,
and walking improve pulmonary outcomes in patients who undergo major operations.
Among the latest discoveries in preventive care is a FDA-cleared antiemetic (non-drug) disposable acupressure wrist strip under the brand name Pressure Right®. This product empowers surgery patients to respond more favorably against PONV occurrences and because of improved patient satisfaction there is less demands placed on PACU nurses to treat PONV episodes.
Breast cancer patients who have received radiation therapy after mastectomy have more problems related to the use of implants for breast reconstruction, according to a review in the October issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).
With rising rates of morbid obesity, the number of bariatric surgery procedures is likely to increase as well, reports a paper in the October issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).
The Robotic Surgery Center at NYU Langone Medical Center recently completed its second year offering monthly robotic surgery education sessions for minimally invasive robotic procedures. Michael Stifelman, MD, director of the Robotic Surgery Center teaches and moderates each seminar at NYU Langone using the latest technology in robotic surgery.
Anemia is now confirmed as a risk factor for illness and even death following cardiac surgery, according to a new study. Although preoperative anemia has been linked to adverse events in other types of surgery, this is the first study to tie preoperative anemia with postoperative complications, including death, for all types of heart surgery.
Because there are more risks with having a total knee replacement in both legs at the same time than having a knee replacement in one leg, doctors in recent years have been selecting younger and healthier patients for the bilateral procedure. But some complication rates have risen.
• 70% and 40% of survey respondents found financial incentives to be acceptable for deceased and living kidney donors, respectively.
• 45%, 14% and 27% of the public, health professionals, and people with or affected by kidney disease, respectively, supported monetary payment as incentives for living donors.
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have found that recovery from an emerging, minimally invasive surgical technique called Laparo-Endoscopic Single-Site Surgery (LESS) was less painful for kidney cancer patients than traditional laparoscopic surgery.
University of Iowa researchers find that total knee replacement surgeries have more than doubled in 20 years. The study, published Sept. 26 in JAMA, suggests the growth is driven by both the increase in the number of older Americans and increased demand among older adults for total knee replacements.
Corticosteroids are often given to children undergoing tonsillectomy to reduce postoperative nausea and vomiting; however, previous research has suggested that corticosteroids may increase the risk of hemorrhage during and after surgery. Researchers from the Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, Virginia, and colleagues set to determine the effect of dexamethasone, a corticosteroid, on bleeding. They found that administration of the dexamethasone to children during a tonsillectomy was not associated with excessive, serious bleeding events following surgery compared to patients who received placebo.