Feature Channels: Surgery

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UCLA pioneered a new hybrid technique to treat aortic aneurysms in high-risk patients called CESA (combined endovascular and surgical approach). Since 1998, the procedure has been performed on 31 UCLA patients. In a recent issue of the Journal of Vascular Surgery, the UCLA surgical team reported excellent results in the first 20 high-risk patients with complex aortic pathology treated with CESA. The technique has been gaining popularity at centers throughout the world for high-risk cases.

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Plastic surgeons are turning to mathematics to take the guesswork out of efforts to ensure that live tissue segments that are selected to restore damaged body parts will have enough blood and oxygen to survive the surgical transfer.

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Surgeons from Hospital for Special Surgery have identified a drilling technique that improves the outcome of surgery to reconstruct the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). The news will be presented during the annual meeting of the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine, July 9-12, in Keystone. Colo.

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Surgical teams at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City and Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit successfully completed the first eight-way, multihospital, domino kidney transplant. The transplant involved eight donors "” 3 men and 5 women along with eight organ recipients "” 3 men and 5 women.

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A comparison of surgical treatments for sciatica finds that the minimally invasive procedure known as tubular diskectomy does not provide a significant difference in improvement of functional disability compared to the more common surgery, conventional microdiskectomy, according to a study in the July 8 issue of JAMA.

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A new study indicates that bone-morphogenetic protein (BMP; a biological agent used to promote bone creation) is used in 25 percent of spinal fusion procedures and is associated with a higher rate of complications than in fusions that did not use BMP, and greater hospital charges for all categories of spinal fusions, according to a report in the July 1 issue of JAMA.

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A new report on infection rates from the New York State Department of Health singles out Hospital for Special Surgery as the only hospital in New York State with a statistically lower rate of surgical site infection (SSI) compared to the state average for hip replacement/revision surgery.

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While some amount of stress is normal, extreme pre-surgery anxiety in children can contribute to the occurrence of emergence delirium, a distressing incidence of acute behavioral changes experienced when "waking up" from anesthesia. Now, in the July issue of Anesthesiology physicians report melatonin premedication can significantly reduce the occurrence of emergence delirium for children.

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A study that completed a retrospective analysis of laparoscopic techniques for vascular procedures in a series of 219 patients, to determine its feasibility for treatment and outcomes with respect to aortic occlusive disease, abdominal aortic aneurysms and aorto-renal bypass in the endovascular era was presented today at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the Society for Vascular Surgery.

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A new study reports that 75 percent of cardiac damage after vascular surgery is asymptomatic or patients' symptoms are concealed by postoperative complaints such as nausea and incision pain. This damage is associated with an increased risk for mortality. Researchers have found that screening for cardiac damage following surgery helps identify high-risk patients who might benefit from more aggressive medical therapy and follow-up after discharge.

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Researchers at the University of Mississippi in Jackson presented a study today at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the Society for Vascular Surgery offering details about how many patients with severe symptoms of chronic venous insufficiency often can be treated with newer, minimally invasive stent treatment technology alone.

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The use of fenestrated endografts to treat juxta-renal and para-renal aneurysms (adjacent to and involving the visceral segment of the aorta) after prior aortic reconstruction, is a viable alternative to open repair. These findings are from a study presented today at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the Society for Vascular Surgery.

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Presented at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the Society for Vascular Surgery, a new study of 5,600 patients undergoing open lower extremity bypass operations, examines the validity of a single preoperative functional status determination, and its ability to predict major morbidity and mortality for patients undergoing open lower extremity bypass operations.

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Dr. Jonathan C. Song, director of the Cornea Institute in The Vision Center at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles has just returned from a medical mission in which he worked with Syrian and Iraqi eye surgeons at the Syrian city of Dier Ezzor. During the medical mission, May 18-22, Dr. Song saw 50 patients and performed eight corneal transplants and five cataract surgeries. In addition to holding training sessions with Syrian ophthalmologists, he also lectured to 25 Syrian and Iraqi medical professionals about advanced eye surgery techniques.

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Three patients at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center were among the first in the United States to be implanted with a next-generation artificial heart pump called the DuraHeart Left-Ventricular Assist System. The surgeries took place earlier this year. NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia is one of only three centers in the U.S. currently enrolling patients in a clinical trial studying the device.

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A short, preoperative team briefing prior to cardiac surgery - where each person on the team speaks - improves communication and reduces errors and costs, according to a pilot study conducted at Mayo Clinic.

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Surgeons from Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Mass. General Hospital will perform the first Auditory Brain Stem Implant (ABI) surgery in New England on May 20. The ABI, which can restore the sense of hearing to certain patients, has been implanted in about 500 people worldwide.

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For the last three years, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has sent a medical team once a year to Kampala, Uganda, the capital of the African nation. In Kampala the UNC Project-Uganda team helped establish a children's heart surgery unit at Mulago Hospital and performed many life-saving heart repair procedures on children who would otherwise go without treatment.

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Columbia University Science & Technology Ventures and EndoRobotics, Inc. have entered into an exclusive license agreement to develop and commercialize a micro-robotic imaging and surgical device platform designed to reduce the complexity of minimally invasive surgical (MIS) procedures and improve patient outcomes.

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The American College of Surgeons develops an official "Statement on Medical and Surgical Tourism." The ACS advises surgical patients who seek treatment overseas to actively seek out quality health care providers.

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Children hospitalized with concussions should wait until they are seen by a clinician in a follow-up exam before returning to regular sports or playtime activities, according to researchers at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. The vast majority of such brain injuries in children do not occur during athletic activities.

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Genetic differences can explain why some patients undergoing heart surgery later experience shock and kidney complications, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN). The results indicate that performing a genetic test on patients before they have surgery can help guide treatment after they leave the operating room.

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Endovascular, noninvasive thoracic aortic aneurysm repair (TEVAR) is safer than open aneurysm repair (OAR) as it is associated with fewer cardiac, respiratory, and hemorrhagic complications, as well as a shorter hospital stay, according to a study in the May 2009 issue of the Journal of Vascular Surgery.

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After surgery to remove the head of the pancreas, invagination of the pancreas into the small intestine resulted in a lower rate of pancreatic fistula, according to researchers at the Jefferson Pancreas, Biliary and Related Cancer Center. The research was published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. It was performed as a randomized trial "“ the gold standard for studies.

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On Monday, April 27th at 1:00PM EST, the first real-time broadcast of a partial nephrectomy using the newest robotic surgical system will be featured at the American Urological Association Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL. The surgery will be performed by Dr. Michael Stifelman, director of robotic surgery at NYU Langone Medical Center.

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University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) surgeon Rabii Madi, M.D., became the first in the nation to perform a double robotic surgery, removing a patient's cancerous kidney and cancerous prostate through a single, small incision using the da Vinci Surgical System robot.

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MRI has identified five possible causes of patient complications from anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstructive surgery, according to a study performed at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, GA, and Sahlgrenska-Molndal University Hospital in Gothenborg, Sweden.

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A study published in the May 2009 issue of the journal Anesthesiology reveals that a more conservative regimen of continuous insulin therapy in patients undergoing certain types of non-cardiac surgery could help prevent heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems.

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A surgeon at the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago is one of the first in the Midwest to use a new surgical technique that requires only one small incision to remove a diseased kidney.

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Having both lungs replaced instead of just one is the single most important feature determining who lives longest after having a lung transplant, more than doubling an organ recipient's chances of extending their life by over a decade, a study by a team of transplant surgeons at Johns Hopkins shows.

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Ten years ago, neurosurgeons removing pituitary tumors typically used a large, bulky surgical microscope and entered through an incision under the lip, causing significant damage to nasal structures. In the accompanying news release, however, we highlight a patient from Riverside, CA, whose tumor was removed endoscopically.

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Loyola surgeon uses minimally invasive procedure to operate inside the abdomen with no traces of a scar.

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Despite rapid strides in minimally invasive surgical techniques -- most notably, laparoscopy -- traditional open surgery remains the most common surgical option across the United States for people with diseases of the rectum and colon. A newer, third option is a hybrid -- hand-assisted laparoscopic surgery (HALS).

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Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston have developed a slow-release local anesthetic that could potentially revolutionize treatment of pain during and after surgery. By encapsulating anesthetics in fatty particles, they created a long-lasting, nontoxic nerve block. The research could also have a large impact on chronic pain management, avoiding the need for systemic narcotics.

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Up to 80 percent of patients who have surgery complain of nausea and vomiting afterwards, but stimulating an acupoint in their wrists can help reduce these symptoms, finds a Cochrane evidence review.

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Brief stress management sessions prior to and immediately after surgery may have both short- and long-term benefit for men undergoing a radical prostatectomy for early-stage prostate cancer, according to research from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

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Mercy Medical Center in Rockville Centre has become the first weight-loss surgery program in New York State to offer the new non-invasive ROSE procedure that reduces the size of a patient's stomach without the need for any incisions.

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In March, Fox Chase Cancer Center performed the world's first successful minimally invasive distal pancreatectomy using the ViKY system's revolutionary robotic, compact laparoscope holder. The technology, developed in France and tested on thousands of patients in Europe, made its debut in a cancer setting in the United States at Fox Chase.

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A study by researchers from the University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center's division of vascular and endovascular surgery in Worcester, examines the national frequency, predictors, outcomes, and the effect of institutional volume metrics in cases where endovascular aortic repair was used to repair ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms between 2001 and 2006.

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Celebrating the anniversary of the first administration of ether anesthetic, the American Society of Anesthesiologists recognizes Doctors Day 2009. Given the wide range of procedures in which anesthesia is required and the role it plays in making modern medicine possible, it is of little surprise that interest in this medical specialty continues to grow.

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Norma Wooley checked into Loyola University Hospital on a recent Monday morning for brain surgery to repair a life-threatening aneurysm. She went home on Tuesday, cured of the slurred speech, drooping face and worst headache of her life. Dr. John Whapham used a less-invasive technique that's becoming increasingly common in brain surgery.

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Spine surgeons at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and other U.S. centers are reporting that artificial disc replacement works as well and often better than spinal fusion surgery. The two procedures are performed on patients with damaged discs in the neck.

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On Thursday, February 5, 2009, surgeons at the University of California, San Diego Medical Center removed a patient's diseased kidney through one incision hidden in the belly button. No other incisions were used. This groundbreaking procedure is the 15th in a series of single-incision clinical trial surgeries performed by the UC San Diego Center for the Future of Surgery.

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After a diagnosis of tongue cancer Lisa, a new mother, was faced with the loss of part of her tongue to save her life. She knew that she could lose her ability to talk and that her young son might never hear her voice again. But surgeons at the University of Michigan built her a new tongue.

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Spinal scoliosis is a fairly common condition among children and adults. For some, the condition can progress to create severe pain and balance issues which require surgery. Surgeons at the U-M are experimenting with a new minimal access spinal surgery that may revolutionize this surgical repair.

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Opening the doors to one of the first academic medical programs dedicated to surgical treatment of type 2 diabetes, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center has created a new section of General Surgery called Gastrointestinal Metabolic Surgery. The program will be led by the newly appointed Dr. Francesco Rubino, a pioneering authority in the emerging specialty.

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Smokers tend to have more chronic ear disease requiring surgical correction, and have more advanced disease at presentation than their non-smoking counterparts. Their hearing commonly suffers as a result. A new study presented at the 2007 AAO-HNSF Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO has shown for the first time that once surgery is performed to rid smokers of their ear disease, their postoperative hearing acuity is significantly worse than non-smokers who undergo similar surgery.

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Cat scratch disease (CSD) is a bacterial infection that typically causes swelling of the lymph nodes. It usually results from the scratch, lick, or bite of a cat. In the United States, about 22,000 cases are diagnosed annually, most of them in people under the age of 21. For most children, this bacterial infection will either resolve on its own or be treated like a general infection by a pediatrician. But a new study presented at the 2007 AAO-HNSF Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO indicates that some children suffering from CSD may require surgical intervention.

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Endoscopic sinus surgery is performed for patients who have chronic or acute sinusitis that persists for more than six weeks after maximum medical therapy has been tried. A new study presented at the 2007 AAO-HNSF Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO reviews the levels of evidence in the otolaryngology literature that support the efficacy of endoscopic approaches to treat frontal sinus disease.

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Less pain, shorter hospital stays and quicker recovery times might soon become reality for more patients undergoing joint replacement surgery and other types of joint reconstruction as a result of advancements in Minimally Invasive Surgery.