Jeannette Y. Wick, RPh, MBA, FASCP

Currently studies are underway to refine a surgical approach for migraine headaches, determine the best way to triage patients, identify additional trigger points, and expand knowledge of migraine's anatomy.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) have become significant and costly problems-so significant, in fact, that many patients have a basic knowledge of MRSA just from news reports. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offer a large selection of free tools to educate the public about MRSA and VRE.

A non-inferiority study published in the October 6, 2014 issue of JAMA Internal Medicine looks at these drugs. The researchers report that prescribing β-lactam monotherapy may be as effective as the combination of a macrolide with a β-lactam in certain patients.

Cushing syndrome occurs only rarely in children, but when it does, it causes weight gain and stunting. In young children, adrenal tumors are usually the cause while in adolescents, pituitary tumors are more likely.

Prompted by almost-epidemic rates of diabetes in the United States and globally, the American Diabetes Association recently convened a consensus panel to examine diabetic kidney disease, one of the most frequent complications associated with diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes occurs at roughly the same prevalence in men and women. Despite the similar prevalence in the sexes, women who develop diabetes feel the effect of its complications disproportionately.

Deep brain simulation (DBS) -- surgically-implanted brain pacemakers that reversibly change brain activity and improve quality of life for many patients -- have been available since 1997 for essential tremor and approved for Parkinson's disease since 2002.

Readmission rates among cardiac surgery patients have been reported to range from approximately 14 percent to 63 percent, a rate that far exceeds that in patients who undergo other surgical procedures.

According to the Foundation for Quality Health Care, overall mortality rates associated with coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) hover at or below 2 percent, a 27 percent decrease from as recently as 2002.

Prescription opioid analgesics play an important and legitimate role for surgical patients, and proper use by surgeons ensures that patients find the pain relief they need with few adverse events.

Study results show that the majority of adult patients with congenital heart disease and their clinicians ignore American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association recommendations that any non-cardiac surgery for these patients should be performed in regionalized centers of expertise.

Researchers compared outcomes from bariatric surgery with those achieved through medical weight management in patients with diabetes to determine the effectiveness of bariatric surgery in patients with BMI less than 35. They also evaluated a potential biomarker for identifying patients likely to experience the best surgical outcomes.

Researchers from the Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, have published a study indicating that component position alone is not protective against instability.

Scientists from Sanofi Pasteur's Swiftwater, PA facility have published results of a study indicating that a high-dose, trivalent, inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV3-HD or high dose Fluzone®) improves antibody responses to influenza among adults 65 years of age or older.

Prescription medications for mental health diagnoses (e.g. antidepressants, antipsychotics, and mood stabilizers) consume approximately 25% of commercial health insurers' pharmacy budgets and almost 35% of public payers' pharmacy spending. In 2011, an estimated 26.8 million US adults-more than 11%-took prescription medications for mental illness.

A letter published online in the Journal of the American Medical Association presents the first microbiologic pathogens trend analysis in hospitalized patients in the United States.

Resistant hypertension is common among patients with type 2 diabetes, and is strongly associated with microvascular disease.

Study results show that treatment with a proton pump inhibitor does not reduce the effectiveness of metformin treatment in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Researchers have achieved good results in treating rectovaginal fistula through soft tissue augmentation via plastic surgery fat harvesting and subsequent transplantation by injection.

Bodily pain and headache are highly prevalent in pituitary disease, making pain screening and therapy an important part of the work-up for these patients.

Researchers have identified several combinations of drugs that outperform metformin monotherapy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Minimally-invasive procedures that rely on morcellators are attractive to women because of the associated shorter recovery time. However, the FDA recently warned about the dangers of these tools.

The patients who are most likely to develop a hospital-acquired condition after bariatric surgery are precisely those who stand to benefit the most from undergoing the procedure

Symptomatic severe aortic valve stenosis reduces life expectancy and prompts the need for aortic valve replacement, which can be done 2 ways.

Patients without medical insurance who have a surgical need - such as a hernia repair, gallbladder removal, or a knee replacement - are turning to an online medical auction site.

Adolescent transgender patients face many challenges, as do the medical professionals who care for them. What is the best way to manage transgender youths? This is a complex question with answers that rely on a case-by-case, ethical approach

One might expect surgeons and hospitals would be reimbursed by Medicare at similar rates for similar surgical procedures; however, a new study in Spine Journal indicates that is not the case.

In the future, topical chelators and novel agents will be available to improve wound healing in patients with iron aberrations or inflammatory states.

As a part of the Choosing Wisely campaign, 6 organizations representing surgeons have contributed lists of tests and procedures that can be unnecessary and a waste of money.

Patients diagnosed with thyroid disease often use it as an explanation or excuse for neuropsychiatric symptoms; this is a form of "labeling effect."