Surgery

The transformation process for transgender patients involves many moving parts; these individuals can seek help from a wide range of clinicians, including dermatologists, who can consult on facial transformations for women.

Gastroschisis, a birth defect that causes a baby’s internal organ’s to spill out of the body, is becoming more prevalent, especially among infants born to mothers under the age of 20.

A new retrospective analysis indicates that the interval between the diagnosis of persistent atrial fibrillation and the use of catheter ablation is inversely related to the procedure’s chance of long-term success.

Social media is a continuation of (or surrogate for) surgery’s frequent morbidity and mortality conferences. Surgery as a specialty thrives on discussion and comparison.

Children and adolescents appear to be increasingly seeking medical care for nonorganic back pain. However, according to a new literature review, physicians are often unable to determine the exact cause for such pain, even with expensive, advanced testing that includes MRIs.

A history of multiple surgeries and general anesthesia shouldn't necessarily worry the elderly about their risk of diminishing mental abilities, according to a new Mayo Clinic study.

British research indicates that previous fracture appears to be associated with an increased likelihood of chronic widespread bodily pain, particularly with hip fractures in women, and spine fractures in both sexes.

A recent study showed that a large number of surgeons in the United States are reaching retirement age with no plans to put down their scalpel. What this can mean to the patients they treat has yet to be determined.

One of the most important facilities in the American military medical system is Brooke Army Medical Center. As a level 1 trauma center and a key research facility the San Antonio institution plays many roles all with one goal in mind.

Emergencies that send patients rolling into the surgical suite are high risk situations. Epidemiologists in the United Kingdom indicate that approximately half of all surgeries are considered emergency in nature. More concerning is that these surgeries are associated with 80% of surgical deaths. Prompt and informed decision-making has been shown to improve emergency surgical outcomes.

As the name suggests cardiac rupture can be a very serious condition with potentially fatal results if not treated quickly and effectively.

Intestinal transplantation can be the last resort for patients suffering from intestinal failure or other difficult conditions. Finding ways to make the procedure more effective can help more patients return to a higher quality of life.

Being discharged from oncology care after treatment for breast cancer face concerns about the future. New guidelines look to provide a clearer picture for the years after original treatments.

An awakening in the midst of surgery is a patient’s and an anesthesiologist’s nightmare. British scientists have developed a new way to prevent that.

President Obama's gun control executive orders were seen by many in the medical field as positive but inadequate. However, the news also exposed the mixed feelings physicians have about issues of gun control and gun safety.

Readmissions are a concern and a dilemma for hospitals across the nation as the federal government docks facilities when patients are readmitted within 30 days of discharge. It has caused a surge in research about the causes of readmission and strategies to avoid them.

Studying new approaches to address organ donor shortage shows some positive results for uncontrolled donation after circulatory determination of death.

Testing for the CA 19-9 tumor marker is especially important for early stage pancreatic cancer patients, but only about 20% of patients receive the test, according to findings presented at the Western Surgical Association meeting in November 2015 in Napa, CA.

A recent study compared outcomes following surgery to release of the first branch of the lateral plantar nerve with or without calcaneal drilling for resistant plantar fasciitis.

Individualized medicine is a growing trend in health care and is making its way into the field of gastroenterology. Doctors are now looking to find treatments that not only work best for their patients but will also be easy for them to follow long term.

Researchers from four leading surgical centers investigated the hypothesis that hepatitis C infection increases risk of adverse outcomes after lower-extremity total joint arthroplasty.

As a nonprofit organization OpenBiome is becoming one of the leaders in fecal microbiota transplantation technology and also working to boost other areas of public health as well.

Patients who have emphysema without interlobar collateral ventilation experience improved pulmonary function and have greater capacity for exercise when they receive endobronchial valve treatment.

Travelling long distance for mastectomy patients still proves to be a significant hindrance for breast reconstruction.

The MELD (Model for End-stage Liver Disease) scoring system was developed to decrease access disparity for patients who need a liver transplant. Despite its implementation, large geographic disparities exist in the likelihood of either being removed from the transplant list due to progressive disease or actually receiving a transplant.

Four trends—increased use of preoperative MRI, increased awareness of genetic predisposition, celebrities’ well-publicized mastectomy choices, and patient preference—have increased the likelihood that surgeons will perform contralateral prophylactic mastectomy.

Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) is a global initiative protocol to help patients recover as quickly as possible after major surgery.

A review of studies comparing the Beger and Frey procedures for duodenum-preserving pancreatic head resection found that both operations produced similar rates of exocrine pancreatic insufficiency — and nearly every other outcome — in patients with painful chronic pancreatitis.

Sometimes health stories can be just downright strange, and even the most experienced physicians may scratch their heads from time to time. Whether it was strange ingredients to treat pain or foods that harmfully impact the body, there have been a fair share of wild occurrences in the past 12 months.

Between 1997 and 2014, the annual number of cosmetic procedures performed in the United States increased by more than 274%. Plastic surgeons performed the vast majority of those procedures on women, although the number of men undergoing cosmetic procedures increased somewhat. This suggests that plastic surgeons could do a better job of advertising to male patients.