AATS and three cardiovascular professional societies today released an overview of transcatheter therapies for mitral regurgitation. Intended to “help frame subsequent discussions” among the field’s various stakeholders, the document highlights critical issues that should be considered as the technologies are integrated into clinical practice.
Knee surgery for the type of meniscus tear suffered by Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose can involve a difficult tradeoff. Surgery that enables a quick return could result in painful arthritis later in life.
Neurosurgeons at UC San Diego Health System are using a new approach to visualize the brain’s delicate anatomy prior to surgery. The novel technique allows neurosurgeons to see the brain’s nerve connections thus preserving and protecting critical functions such as vision, speech and memory. No needles, dyes or chemicals are needed to create the radiology scan. The main imaging ingredient? Water.
Surgery to repair torn rotator cuffs improves patients’ quality of life and can allow them to get back to work quickly, resulting in societal savings for patients 61 years and younger, according to a new analysis led by Duke Medicine.
Among patients receiving standard care, 47% suffered a major complication of death, heart attack, stroke, pneumonia, blood clot or major bleeding event. However, only 30% of the patients in the accelerated surgery group suffered one of these complications.
Researchers report for the first time evidence on whether or not there is any significant difference between the two current surgical approaches to treat patients with severe ischemic mitral regurgitation -- mitral valve repair and mitral valve replacement.
Researchers show end-stage heart failure patients who receive a surgically implanted left ventricular assist device (LVAD) heart pump may also benefit from a single dose of millions of powerful cells injected directly into their heart during surgery.
After cardiac surgery, healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are common complications associated with increased morbidity, mortality, and use of resources. New study findings reveal the substantial economic impact of HAIs following cardiac surgery and the importance of preventing these infections leading to re-hospitalizations.
The bariatric program at Stanford University saw hospital readmission rates drop by 75 percent and surgical-site infections decline by 60 percent after changes in patient education, discharge planning and pre-operative procedures, according to a new study* presented here at the 30th Annual Meeting for the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) during ObesityWeek 2013.
University of North Carolina (UNC) researchers found patients who were denied or delayed insurance approval for bariatric surgery, despite being cleared by their medical team, had a mortality rate three times higher than patients who received insurance approval without delay.
Researchers found the biggest determinant of weight loss after bariatric surgery was not how long a patient was on a medically supervised diet program before surgery, but whether or not the patient had private or government-subsidized insurance.
Bariatric surgery is significantly safer when performed at an accredited center, according to new research* presented here at the 30th Annual Meeting for the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) during ObesityWeek 2013.
New research from the Cleveland Clinic shows most patients with diabetes and obesity who undergo gastric bypass not only experience remission of their diabetes and lose significant weight, but they also reduce their risk of having a heart attack by 40 percent and their risk for suffering a stroke by 42 percent, over a 10-year time horizon.
A University of Alabama at Birmingham surgical team has performed the first surgery using a virtual augmented reality technology called VIPAAR in conjunction with Google Glass, a wearable computer with an optical head-mounted display. The combination of the two technologies could be an important step toward the development of useful, practical telemedicine.
• In 74 obese kidney disease patients undergoing weight loss surgery, there were 16 adverse events, including two deaths related to surgical complications.
Use of a minimally invasive endoscopic procedure to remove superficial, early stage esophageal cancer is as effective as surgery that takes out and rebuilds the esophagus, according to a study by researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida.
Initial results of a first and largest of its kind study focusing on the safety of adolescent bariatric surgery were published this week in JAMA Pediatrics. The “Teen Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery” (Teen-LABS) study is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and is being conducted at five sites in the U.S., including Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
Researchers are reporting positive results from a landmark clinical trial of an investigational aortic valve that is deployed with a catheter, without open heart surgery.
In the largest in-depth scientific study of its kind on the safety of teen weight-loss surgery, researchers report few short-term complications for adolescents with severe obesity undergoing bariatric surgery.
The first study to look extensively at sexual function in women who underwent bariatric surgery found that significant improvements in overall sexual function, most reproductive hormones and in psychological status were maintained over two years following surgery. Women reporting the poorest quality of sexual function prior to surgery saw the most dramatic improvements one year after surgery, on par with women who reported the highest quality of sexual function prior to surgery.
More than two decades ago, Ryan Vincent had open brain surgery to remove a malignant brain tumor, resulting in a lengthy hospital stay and weeks of recovery at home. Recently, neurosurgeons at Houston Methodist Hospital removed a different lesion from Vincent’s brain through a tube inserted into a hole smaller than a dime and he went home the next day.
A study of over 750 kidney transplant patients over a five-year period has found that 90 percent of early rehospitalizations (within 30 days of surgery) were caused by complex medical factors related to the transplantation process. Only nine percent of rehospitalizations – which occurred among only three percent of the entire group of patients – were categorized as potentially preventable.
High risk patients have better outcomes when undergoing aortic valve replacement (AVR) at hospitals that perform high volumes of the procedure
A discovery from Case Western Reserve and Cleveland Clinic researchers could provide epilepsy patients invaluable advance guidance about their chances to improve symptoms through surgery.
Would you consider traveling to Mexico or India for a less-expensive rhinoplasty or breast augmentation procedure? Many Americans are doing just that—and the trend is having an impact on the market for cosmetic plastic surgery, according to an article in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery—Global Open®, the official open-access medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).
For the first time in minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery, 3-D goggles are giving surgeons a natural, three-dimensional view inside the human body.
Minimally invasive surgical techniques have revolutionized the treatment paraesophageal hernia—but there's continued controversy over some key technical aspects of the procedure. To inform the debate, leading surgical specialists outline their approaches to laparoscopic paraesophageal hernia repair in the October issue of Surgical Laparoscopy, Endoscopy & Percutaneous Techniques. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.
Patients with rheumatoid arthritis may not need to halt use of their antirheumatic drugs prior to surgery due to fears of increased infection risk, according to research presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting in San Diego.
Researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery found that people who lacked good social connections were much more likely to experience serious, ongoing pain following total hip replacement surgery two or more years after the procedure.
Highlights • After a median of 2.4 years of follow up, 86.5% of transplants of donor kidneys considered “high-risk” for infection and disease were functioning with no evidence of infections. • Such “high-risk” organs are relatively safe when screened with current methods.
• Paying living donors $10,000 could be cost-saving even if it only resulted in a 5% increase in the number of donors.
In sports, anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears happen. When star players suffer one, fans sometimes have questions as to what these injuries involve and how they are repaired.
Highlights • Kidney transplant recipients who discontinue immunosuppressive drugs before conception have a higher rate of live births and a lower rate of birth defects without an increased risk of kidney problems.
Scientists have known for years that certain wavelengths of light in certain doses can heal, but they are only now uncovering exactly how it works, thanks in large part to research cluster in Milwaukee.
A study of 69,000 Medicare patient records led by Johns Hopkins researchers shows that people with spine compression fractures who undergo operations to strengthen back bones with cement survive longer and have shorter overall hospital stays than those who stick with bed rest, pain control and physical therapy.
A hologram-like display of a patient’s organs based on molecular PET/CT images helps surgeons plan surgery by allowing them to see detailed anatomical structure, peel away layers of tissue, and see all sides of a tumor, before entering the operating room to excise it.
A new recovery program for abdominal surgery patients at University of Virginia Health System is helping patients go home sooner while making them more comfortable both before and after surgery.
Despite major efforts to keep operating rooms sterile, surgical wound infections remain a serious and stubborn problem, killing up to 8,200 patients a year in the U.S. Columbia University Medical Center research published in PLOS ONE suggests that narrow-spectrum UV light could dramatically reduce such infections without damaging human tissue.
A study designed to compare cure rates, postoperative pain, cosmetic satisfaction, and length of the procedure and of the hospital stay for patients with hyperparathyroidism who underwent BNE versus minimally invasive video-assisted (MIVAP) parathyroidectomy.
Review of cases spanning more than 12 years found that nearly a third of patients with DTC and neck metastases would not have had adequate operations if the surgeons had relied on pre-referral imaging studies and had not performed US themselves.
A team of engineers and doctors has developed a new wireless capsule that can give surgeons back their sense of touch when performing minimally invasive surgery.
Breast cancer patients who received the combination of a nerve block with general anesthesia for their breast cancer surgery had less cancer recurrence and were three times less likely to die than those who received only general anesthesia, according to a study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ annual meeting. Additionally, patients who received the nerve block needed less opioid pain relief from drugs such as fentanyl and oxycodone.
Complications in the recovery room decreased by 58 percent between 1990 and 2010, according to a study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2013 annual meeting. In a previous study completed in the late 1980s, recovery room complications occurred in 23.7 percent of the patients. Today, the complication rate is 9.9 percent. The study also found that less-healthy patients are more prone to recovery room complications.
Late starts to the first surgical case of the day can be improved, according to two studies presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2013 annual meeting. Improving efficiency potentially reduces costs, increases patient and staff satisfaction, and increases the number of cases that can be performed daily.
Elderly surgical patients are more likely to suffer from debilitating post-operative delirium if they have diabetes, undergo longer surgery or respond poorly to stress, according to a study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2013 annual meeting.
Researchers have identified hundreds of variants in a patient’s DNA sequence or genetic code that predict which military service members are more likely to develop persistent, chronic pain after amputation, according to a study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2013 annual meeting.
Ninety-seven percent of bariatric surgery patients avoided post-operative nausea and vomiting (PONV) with the addition of a second drug to the standard treatment given during surgery, according to a study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2013 annual meeting.
Simple remedies – from keeping the antibacterial gel dispenser clean to giving health care workers their own hand sanitizer – can help keep patients safe by decreasing contamination in operating and recovery rooms, suggest two studies presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2013 annual meeting.
Before and after spinal surgery, patients on a polyamine-deficient diets experienced significant relief of both chronic and acute pain, according to a study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2013 annual meeting.
The incidence of chronic pain following cardiac surgery can be reduced in patients when the drug pregabalin is used before surgery and for 14 days post-surgery, according to a study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2013 annual meeting. The study also found that patients at risk of developing long-term post-operative persistent pain can be predicted by conducting pain sensitivity tests at the time of surgery.
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