Feature Channels: Surgery

• share
• favorite_border

Los Angeles—Patients who undergo coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery have a lower overall composite risk for heart attack, stroke, and death in the 4 years following the procedure compared to patients who undergo stenting or balloon procedures, according to a study released today at the 49th Annual Meeting of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) held at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

• share
• favorite_border

The “July Effect” -- the notion that the influx of new residents and fellows at teaching hospitals each July makes that the worse time of year to be a patient -- seems to be a myth, according to new Mayo Clinic research that examined nearly 1 million hospitalizations for patients undergoing spine surgery from 2001 to 2008. Among those going under the knife, researchers discovered that the month surgery occurred had an insignificant impact on patient outcomes.

• share
• favorite_border

Two studies from the February issue of Anesthesiology address the relief of pain. As pain physicians, anesthesiologists are committed to conducting research to better understand and treat patients suffering from acute and chronic pain.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers have found that dissecting a spinal tumor away from the spinal cord and then delivering radiation to the remaining metastatic tumor using stereotactic radiosurgery is a safe, effective method to control spinal metastases - regardless of the radiosensitivity of the tumor that has invaded the spine.

• share
• favorite_border

According to a recent study published in the January print issue of the Journal of Pediatric Surgery, bariatric surgery in extremely obese adolescents also was shown to be beneficial in helping to reverse previously undiagnosed cardiovascular abnormalities believed to be linked to severe obesity.

• share
• favorite_border

Two heads are better than one, as the saying goes – and a new study by a duo at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) demonstrates how having two attending surgeons in the operating room during spinal surgeries can benefit patients in multiple ways.

• share
• favorite_border

Despite receiving blood thinners and other clot prevention treatment, some patients still develop potentially lethal blood clots in the first month after their operations anyway, especially if they developed a surgical-site infection while in the hospital, according to results of a study at Johns Hopkins.

• share
• favorite_border

TV personality Al Roker and author of a book about his life after bariatric surgery, shared that he pooped his pants at the White House. "It's a phenomenon known as 'dumping' that occurs when a high sugar load causes intestinal influx of fluid," says Bipan Chand, MD, director of Loyola Center for Metabolic Surgery and Bariatric Care.

• share
• favorite_border

Women who undergo surgical menopause at an earlier age may have an increased risk of decline in memory and thinking skills, according to a study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 65th Annual Meeting in San Diego, March 16 to 23, 2013. Early surgical menopause is the removal of both ovaries before natural menopause and often accompanies a hysterectomy.

• share
• favorite_border

Saint Louis University researchers examine outcomes for obese kidney transplant recipients.

• share
• favorite_border

A team of surgeons and scientists at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have developed a new technique that will allow surgeons to identify during surgery which lymph nodes are cancerous so that healthy tissue can be saved. The findings will be published in the January 15 print edition of Cancer Research.

• share
• favorite_border

The use of a new brain tumor-targeting contrast agent that differentiates between normal and cancer cells in conjunction with a high-powered microscopy system could potentially lead to a method of more precise neurosurgery for brain tumors, according to research paper published as a cover story in the December issue of Translational Oncology. Developed by researchers in the Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) at Stony Brook University, the contrast agent adheres to a molecular marker of medulloblastoma, a form of brain cancer, and can be seen by the optical microscope system, also developed by the research team.

• share
• favorite_border

Patients at NorthShore University HealthSystem are now better protected against potentially deadly infections, according to a newly published study.

• share
• favorite_border

• Smoking causes dysregulation of enzymes in leg vein used for coronary bypass grafts. • Smoking cessation does not completely return vein health to normal, even after 1 year. • Patients who may require bypass surgery should stop smoking immediately to help preserve health and function of graft.

• share
• favorite_border

Ten years ago in 2002, Baylor All Saints Medical Center at Fort Worth performed its first kidney transplant with a surgical team led by Marlon Levy, MD, surgical director, transplantation, Baylor All Saints.

• share
• favorite_border

Kevin Riepl arrived at Cedars-Sinai in October 2010, suffering from sudden heart failure that left him fighting for his life. Surgeons swiftly installed a heart pump and later transplanted a new heart, saving his life and turning him into an unexpected ambassador for organ donation. Now he is preparing to represent Cedars-Sinai‘s Comprehensive Transplant Center on the 2013 Donate Life Rose Parade float.

• share
• favorite_border

Many of the most common inpatient surgeries in the United States are performed electively. These surgeries are expected to significantly increase with the enactment of the Affordable Care Act. In a new perspectives article, published in the Dec. 27 edition of The New England Journal of Medicine, a team of Weill Cornell Medical College researchers are recommending the nation's health care leaders and medical community join forces to establish evidence-based appropriateness criteria to determine which patients are most in need of elective procedures, such as joint replacement surgery, to slow the projected surge in demand and rising costs. Currently, there are no appropriateness criteria for most of the common elective procedures.

• share
• favorite_border

Leonidas Hill recently made history at Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA, when the 5-year-old became the first pediatric patient in the western United States to undergo transoral robotic surgery (TORS) — a minimally invasive surgery performed with the help of a robot — to repair a rare congenital condition known as a laryngeal cleft.

• share
• favorite_border

Patients who quit smoking and took an aspirin and statin before undergoing treatment for blocked leg arteries were less likely to suffer a complication six months later, according to new research led by the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center.

• share
• favorite_border

Robotic technologies have the potential to help neurosurgeons perform precise, technically demanding operations, together with virtual reality environments to help them navigate through the brain, according to a special supplement to Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

• share
• favorite_border

After a cautious and rigorous analysis of national malpractice claims, Johns Hopkins patient safety researchers estimate that a surgeon in the United States leaves a foreign object such as a sponge or a towel inside a patient’s body after an operation 39 times a week, performs the wrong procedure on a patient 20 times a week and operates on the wrong body site 20 times a week.

• share
• favorite_border

Patients who want to limit the amount of life support they receive after surgery might have a hard time finding a surgeon willing to do the procedure, according to a new study from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.

• share
• favorite_border

Despite earlier signs that a less-invasive surgery is safer and better than “open” operations to repair potentially lethal abdominal aortic aneurysms, a study led by a Johns Hopkins professor shows survival rates after four years are similar for both procedures.

• share
• favorite_border

A study led by University of Chicago researcher Patrick A. Singleton, Ph.D. and published in the journal Anesthesiology has shown that, even without the addition of further opioids such as morphine, opioids already in the body can enhance the malignant tendencies of human cancer cells.

• share
• favorite_border

Yassar Youssef, M.D., is the first surgeon in Baltimore City to perform gallbladder surgery using just one incision and the da Vinci® Surgical System, leaving patients without a noticeable scar.

• share
• favorite_border

A team of doctors and practitioners implanted a ventriculoperitoneal shunt followed by a new operation to stabilize and reduce the size of the baby’s head in it's first week of life - the first time these two surgeries have been performed in a child so young, according to the authors.

• share
• favorite_border

As surgical teams gain experience with facial transplantation, a careful approach to planning based on the principles of craniofacial surgery can help to maximize patient outcomes in terms of facial form and function, according to an article in The Journal of Craniofacial Surgery. The journal, under the editorship of Mutaz B. Habal, MD, is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

• share
• favorite_border

A dozen years ago, controversial clinical trial results caused an international medical society to warn against the use of stents in leg arteries. But recent years have brought significant improvements in stent technology. One-year follow-up results of a worldwide, multicenter trial with 744 patients show that 90 percent of participants had successful procedures that did not require a repeat treatment.

• share
• favorite_border

A review of more than 15,000 nerve block procedures performed in children at U.S. hospitals finds little or no risk of permanent complications or death, reports a study in the December issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).

• share
• favorite_border

For children undergoing brain surgery, a new technology allows noninvasive, continuous monitoring of blood hemoglobin levels, according to a study in the December issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).

• share
• favorite_border

The American Society of Breast Disease (ASBD) is merging art and medicine this week, by using clay sculpting and other techniques to teach surgeons new skills in breast cancer surgery and reconstruction.

• share
• favorite_border

Johns Hopkins experts are recommending early post-surgical assessment -- preferably within 24 hours -- for trouble chewing and swallowing food, or speaking normally, among patients who have had benign tumors removed from the base of the brain.

• share
• favorite_border

A new technology called the Pipeline embolization device (PED) shows encouraging results in patients with certain types of difficult-to-treat brain aneurysms, reports the December issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

• share
• favorite_border

A developing new laser surgical technique for epilepsy appears to be safe and effective and reduces hospital stays to one or two days, according to two research reports presented today during the American Epilepsy Society 66th Annual Meting at the San Diego Convention Center. Both studies were conducted on pediatric patients with refractory focal seizures. Investigators reported the laser technique which requires only a small scalp incision and twist drill hole in the skull to be more precise and with fewer complications than conventional resective surgery. The laser system is already FDA cleared for neurosurgery.

• share
• favorite_border

Patients who practice respiratory physical therapy exercises before elective cardiac surgery may reduce serious pulmonary complications later, finds a new evidence review from The Cochrane Library.

• share
• favorite_border

A study has found that young, less-experienced surgeons made major surgical mistakes almost half the time during a “simulated” gall bladder removal when they were distracted by noises, questions, conversation or other commotion in the operating room.

• share
• favorite_border

Surgical teams at Cedars-Sinai have reduced surgical site infections by more than 60 percent for patients who undergo colorectal procedures by introducing evidence-based protocols that are easy to follow and relatively low in cost.

• share
• favorite_border

Lobectomy for primary lung cancer takes longer when a patient is obese, not only increasing the resources required to achieve a good outcome, but also adding to national health care costs. The researcher found that for every 10-unit increase in BMI, operating room time rose by 7.2 minutes—even in hospitals experienced in caring for obese patients.

• share
• favorite_border

New research from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing reports that parents present during a child’s more invasive procedures reported higher levels of comfort, more procedural understanding and less emotional distress – while clinicians reported parent presence did not affect their technical performance, therapeutic decision-making, or ability to teach.

• share
• favorite_border

Readmission rates related to spine surgery may be misleading in terms of how patients actually fared, since many readmissions were unavoidable.

• share
• favorite_border

Experimental technology could transform field of lung transplantation.

• share
• favorite_border

Inhaled nitric oxide reduced the adverse effects of transfusing stored blood in mice, according to a study from the December issue of Anesthesiology.

• share
• favorite_border

Children with Prader-Willi syndrome may receive relief from sleep disorders after undergoing an adenotonsillectomy, suggests a new study from Nationwide Children’s Hospital published in the November print issue of the Archives of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.

• share
• favorite_border

A new study review published by the University of Kentucky found that music therapy can be beneficial to patients before, during and after a surgical procedure and may reduce pain and recovery time.

• share
• favorite_border

Patients who undergo gastric bypass surgery for severe obesity lose nearly twice as much weight when keep post-op appointments.

• share
• favorite_border

• The detection of preformed donor-specific antibodies by newer tests, despite negative results from traditional tests, nearly doubles a kidney transplant recipient’s risk for rejection. • It also increases the risk of kidney failure by 76%. Nearly 17,000 kidney transplants take place each year in the United States.

• share
• favorite_border

Not all bariatric surgeries will help you lose the large amount of weight you seek and help you get rid of type 2 diabetes.

• share
• favorite_border

While more than 900,000 total knee replacement surgeries were performed in the U.S. in 2011 to treat debilitating knee osteoarthritis, the success rate of post-operative functional gains vary widely, according to new research findings presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.

• share
• favorite_border

Patients who make $35,000 a year or less report better outcomes after knee replacement surgery than people who earn more, research by Mayo Clinic and the University of Alabama at Birmingham shows.

• share
• favorite_border

Research from the Rothman Institute at Jefferson has shown aspirin to be just as effective as warfarin in preventing clots, specifically pulmonary emboli, life-threatening blood clots that can develop in the arteries of the lungs following joint replacement surgery. Their research was recognized as one of the best poster presentations at the recent American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons (AAHKS) meeting in Dallas.