Surgery

An expert on both flight and medical safety, author John Nance tells physicians the recent crash of a German Wings jet holds lessons for medicine as well as aviation.

Interventional pain management-the field of helping patients with acute or chronic pain without doing major surgery--is a both a growing specialty and one that is under assault. As the annual meeting of the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians got underway in Orlando, FL today, group leaders outlined the organization's political agenda.

Patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) who received a non-myeloablative hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) experienced improved measures of disability and quality of life.

Viewers have plenty of choices when it comes to medical talk shows on television. With all their recommendations a recent study looked at whether they are doing more harm than good to the potential patient pool.

Is orally administered morphine superior to ibuprofen for outpatient pain management for children with uncomplicated fractures?

In the 15 years since the Institute of Medicine published the ground-breaking report, "To Err is Human," the US healthcare system has zeroed in on safety and prevention of medical errors. Despite extensive and innovative efforts, the health care system's fragmentation is still a barrier to cost-effective quality care and patient satisfaction.

Splenectomy creates life-long risk for overwhelming infections, especially from encapsulated bacteria, and experts estimate that splenectomy patients are 50 times more likely to develop overwhelming infection than others.

Widespread uptake of Streptococcus pneumonia conjugate vaccine (PCV7) has changed the microbiological landscape of infectious disease in children. Many studies have demonstrated the expected shift away from S. pneumoniae as the leading cause of acute otitis media, and identify emerging organisms.

While many individuals with lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) opt for the high-tech approach of surgery to rid their symptoms, research shows that physical therapy has a similar improved outcome.

Treating drug-resistant trigeminal neuralgia with stereotactic radiosurgery with linear accelerators is effective and safe, based on a literature review published in Pain Physician.

Joint Health has become an important issue in healthcare, and while there have been no reported adverse events with them they have not been widely accepted by the medical community.

With a mix of elderly and active people filling out the population joint health can be an important part of everyday life. Recent studies have shown that certain supplements can help keep joints healthy for these people and beyond.

Though a large portion of surgical practice is dedicated to bariatric surgery, an article published in JAMA Surgery claimed training for the technique and subsequent patient care has not followed suit.

While less than 25% of centers in the United States offer kidney transplants to those infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), those patients are proving to have better outcomes than others following the surgery.

Between relieving pain and speeding up recovery time after spinal surgery, a new study found various benefits associated with phone counseling.

Cardiovascular risks are increased proportionally among pediatric patients with increasing obese body mass indexes, according to research from JAMA Pediatrics.

Length of surgery is linked to the likelihood of developing venous thromboembolism, according to research published in JAMA Surgery.

Making the transition from transfemoral to transradial access may provide longterm benefits for acute coronary syndrome patients, but changing years of training to the newer method also figures to be a longterm project for the cardiac community.

For patients with acute coronary syndrome there has been one longstanding treatment method which doctors have used for many years. In recent years interventional cardiologists have been looking at whether a fresh approach might be best for this patient group.

What is currently considered to be the "gold standard" for post-shoulder surgery pain management may not be as effective as what once was believed.

Obstructive peripheral artery disease (PAD) manifests itself with intermittent claudication (affecting 20 to 40 million individuals worldwide), which is described as exertional lower extremity pains, and in more advanced stages with critical limb ischemia and acute or chronic limb ischemia. Irrespective of presentation, patients with PAD are at increased risk for adverse cardiovascular (CV) events. Therefore, risk factor modification is the cornerstone of the management of PAD.

The ARTEMIS device provides a new perspective for urologists and patients alike when looking at potential prostate cancer patients.

Using the ARTEMIS device may take a little longer than the traditional MRI for prostate cancer, but with more rapid results and easier to read monitors for the patients and doctors, the results show real benefit in overall diagnosis.

For many years traditional ultrasound has been the main method of diagnosing prostate cancer. In recent years new developments in technology have provided a more effective and efficient method that can provide nearly instantaneous results.

Older children sometimes feel stimagized wearing emergency medical information (EMI) bracelets that alert caregivers to conditions like diabetes and hemophilia. That can be a problem for those treating them in an emergency. But Kristina Derrick, MD, a Bronx pediatric endocrinologist, has a better idea. Put the information on the kid's cell phone--a device that most children 8 years old and up have these days.

Patients administered minimally invasive surgery (MIS) colon resection procedures instead of open surgery leave the hospital quicker and require less follow up with physicians and fewer medical prescriptions.

Working in an emergency room setting in the United States, in almost all circumstances provides doctors with at least most of the major needs they require to do their jobs on a daily basis. One organization is working to bring those basic needs to hospitals throughout Latin America.

The field of medical technology is constantly expanding and changing requiring new equipment to be used in a variety of ways. That effort has been brought under one roof at Massachusetts General Hospital thanks in part to the efforts of one generous and appreciative patient.

A surgical procedure used to treat acute pulmonary embolisms (PE) that was phased out in the 1950's was found to actually prevent more deaths in severely ill patients than solely administering drug therapy, a study published in the Texas Heart Institute Journal suggested.

When it comes to a total knee replacement (TKR), gender proved to be an important factor in a new study that shows men have better function before and after the surgery.