Surgery

The opioid epidemic began nearly 30 years ago and since that time small steps have been taken to reverse its effects. The question remains whether too much damage has already been done to fix the problems in a timely manner.

For many years the dangers of opioid addiction have been well known. Taking the steps needed to reverse its impact has been slower in taking hold across the country.

A study in JAMA Surgery identified several factors that cause a frequently used antireflux surgery to be unsuccessful.

With the potential for knee injuries and surgeries to results in arthritis, researchers are in the midst of developing a way to manipulate the body's cartilage to regenerate itself.

Researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reported a vast improvement in survival rates despite a decrease in primary tumor resection (PTR) to treat stage IV colorectal cancer (CRC).

Generally, surgeons are gravitating toward shorter courses of antibiotics for surgical prophylaxis to reduce toxicity, selection of resistant organisms, Clostridium difficile infection, and cost.

Most oncologists recommend removing melanomas within 4 to 6 weeks of diagnostic biopsy. Researchers have analyzed Medicare's database to determine how quickly the highest risk population (elderly people) have melanomas removed. Their findings indicate 20 percent wait more than 1.5 months to have the malignancy removed, and roughly 8 percent wait longer than 3 months.

Acute compartment syndrome is a surgical emergency of increased pressure within one of the body's muscle- and nerve-containing compartments, usually in the leg or arm. It occurs when accumulation of necrotic debris and hemorrhage (especially after fracture) increases intra-compartmental pressure, and that pressure exceeds the interstitium's capillary perfusion pressure.

The assumption used to be that after a liver transplant patients would need to take immunosuppressive drugs for years, even for life. A team of German researchers say that for about half of adult patients, that is no longer true.

For inflammatory abdominal aortic aneurysm, is open surgery or endovascular repair a better choice?

Researchers in India have found a reliable and sensitive marker to predict how close to organ failure seriously ill patients with liver disease may be.

Active immunization for hepatitis B can be a cheaper, safe way to prevent infections that occur when liver transplant recipients are infected by donors' organs.

After partial hepatectomy, the liver does not need an environment rich in microbes and microbial products to regenerate, a Swiss team reports. The finding contradicts earlier studies.

Patients at high risk of carotid stenosis are candidates for carotid artery stenting. Researchers looked at results when patients had the procedure when they were 80 years old.

Osteoarthritis (OA) patients may have an effective new treatment to look forward to following the development of self-donated fat cell therapy.

Innovative physicians find they can scale-up their impact by branching out as entrepreneurs.

Study results indicate that obstructive sleep apnea is an independent predictor of atrial fibrillation in cardiac surgery.

When a 29-year-old man began experiencing chronic pain in his left thumb, the reason why proved to be anything but routine.

Results of a small study suggest that fecal microbiota transplantation appears to be more successful for treating Clostridium difficile infection than previously thought.

Chronic low back pain can make patients miserable. Much of that pain is in the sacroiliac region. Reporting at the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians, a University of Kentucky department of physical medicine and rehabilitation said Cooled Radiofrequency Ablation (CRFA) is a viable treatment option.

Patients at risk for stroke due to clinically significant carotid stenosis benefit from carotid endarterectomy (CEA), a procedure that prevents neurologic sequelae. The best surgical outcomes occur when patients undergo revascularization on diagnosis. Studies report that white patients are more likely to have CEA and experience good postoperative outcomes than black patients.

Researchers from a number of leading academic facilities across the United States have published a study that details post-surgical MACE prevalence and risk factors in patients with Williams syndrome.

A case study published in the Journal of Medical Case Reports about one patient with syringomyelia demonstrated the common confusion about diagnosing this disease.

One of the advantages of using electronic health records is the amount of information they place at doctors' fingertips, enabling them (in theory) to provide the highest level of care for their patients.

Patients are not only confused about opioid use, but they also fear developing an addiction and crave more information from physicians.

While TORe has been a significant development in the treatment of overweight and obese patients who have undergone gastric bypass surgery there are more procedures on the horizon that could provide even greater benefits in the future.

Even more so than gastric bypass surgery, the work of the patient determines how effective TORe can be in helping them keep from re-gaining excess weight. With diet, exercise, and working with their healthcare professionals the results can be positive for everyone involved.

While gastric bypass has provided benefits for millions of patients it has not been without its share of complications and difficulties after the procedure. Over the past few years work has been done to find ways to help patients after undergoing the original operation.

Across the country millions of people have undergone gastric bypass surgery in an effort to lose weight and improve their overall health. For those patients who have seen their results diminish a relatively new procedure could get them back on the road to a healthy lifestyle.

While many patients suffering from low back pain (LBP) jump right to opioids or advanced imaging procedures for relief, researchers found that the most beneficial method is also wallet-friendly.