March 23, 2008 / Medical News Wire
Researchers Seeking Eye Control Of Surgical Robot
Researchers at the Imperial College in London are developing a way for surgeons to control the Da Vinci robot with their eyes and for the operator to "see through" tissues.
Copyright 2008 InsideSurgery.com
Researchers at the Imperial College in London are developing a way for surgeons to control the Da Vinci robot with their eyes and for the operator to "see through" tissues.
Copyright 2008 InsideSurgery.com
March 3, 2008 / Medical News Wire
States Hire "Unsales Reps" To Lower Drug Costs
Pennsylvania is one of a growing number of states that have hired medical professionals to pay calls on physicians to highlight the lower costs of some generic drugs.
Copyright 2008 InsideSurgery.comŽ. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
March 1, 2008 / Medical News Wire
Lech Walesa Receives Heart Pacemaker
Polish Nobel laureate Lech Walesa had a coronary stent and biventricular pacemaker placed at Methodist DeBakey Heart and Vascular Center in Houston, Texas. The pacemaker procedure was led by Dr. Miguel Valderrabano.
Copyright 2008 InsideSurgery.comŽ. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
February 29, 2008 / Medical News Wire
Justice Department Joins Whistleblower Surgeon In Suit Against South Carolina Hospital
The Justice Department has taken over as lead plaintiff in a suit alleging Medicare fraud against Tuomey Regional Hospital in South Carolina. The suit was initiated by orthopedic surgeon Dr. Michael Drakeford.
Copyright 2008 InsideSurgery.comŽ. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
February 24, 2008 / Tip of the Day
Primary Peritonitis
Peritonitis is defined as the presence of microorganisms in the normally sterile peritoneal sac. It is classified as primary, secondary, or tertiary.
In primary peritonitis, there is no identifiable source of infection. It is associated with peritoneal diaylysis, systemic lupus erythematosus, ascites, and cirrhosis.
It is often monomicrobial with the most common pathogen being Escherichia coli. Other common Gram-negative species identified include Klebsiella. Gram-positive species isolated include Streptococcus and Enterococcus.
These are considered serious infections and mortality can reach 50% in cases with cirrhosis.
Copyright 2008 InsideSurgery.comŽ
Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) - "On Pump" / Cardiac Surgery
Surgical coronay artery revascularization (aka CABG or ACB) is a commonly performed procedure in the United States. The development of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons database has provided a detailed analysis of the morbidity and mortality associated with this procedure and the risk stratification models. The STS database for 1997-2000 calculates the incidence of 30 day mortality at 2.61%.
To decrease some of the complications listed below, many CABG procedures are now done "off pump" or without stopping the heart and cross-clamping the aorta.
Complications
Prolonged Mechanical Ventilation - The incidence of patients requiring mechanical ventilation for longer than 48 hours is 5.79%.
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February 21, 2008 / Medical News Wire
Patients Want Email Access To Their Surgeons
Dr. Peter Stalberg and colleagues have published a study in the Archives of Surgery showing that patient-surgeon email may improve communication.
Copyright 2008 InsideSurgery.comŽ
February 15, 2008 / Medical News Wire
Top Transplant Surgeons Accused Of Helping In Stolen Organs Ring
Transplant surgeons at the highest level of the profession are thought to be implicated in the organs for sale trade claims Nancy Scheper-Huges. She is the head of Organs Watch, a group at the University of California, Berkeley that monitors the world-wide illegal organs trade.
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February 1, 2008 / Medical News Wire
Patient Receives Jawbone Grown From His Stemcells
A 65 year old man in Finland has been implanted with a new upper jaw that was made from stem cells and grown in his abdomen. The work was led by Riitta Suuronen of the Regea Institute of Regenerative Medicine.
Copyright 2007 InsideSurgery.comŽ
January 29, 2008 / Medical News Wire
VA Hospital Cited For Poor Care Leading To Nineteen Deaths
The Inspector General of the Veterans Administration Health Care System has released a report citing the Marion, Illinois VA hospital for substandard care contibuting to the death of nineteen patients.
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January 25, 2008 / Medical News Wire
Researchers Develop Strategy That May Let Transplant Patients Avoid Drugs
Dr. David Sachs and his team at Massachusetts General Hospital have tested a protocol on a small number of transplant patients that allowed them to stop anti-rejection medications.
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January 22, 2008 / Medical News Wire
Pennsylvania To Stop Paying For Hospital Errors
Governor Edward G. Rendell announced today that Pennsylvania will no longer reimburse hospitals for care required after a serious, preventable medical error.
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January 15, 2008 / Medical News Wire
Pioneering Cancer Researcher Dies
Pediatric surgeon Dr. Judah Folkman has died of an apparent heart attack. He was 74.
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January 13, 2008 / Surgery and Medicine Quotations
"Let food by thy medicine and medicine by thy food"
Hippocrates
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January 11, 2008 / Medical News Wire
Saliva Test Being Developed To Detect Breast Cancers
Dr. Charles Streckfus of the University of Texas has begun work on developing a test using saliva that may be able to differentiate normal proteins from the abnormal proteins produced by patients with breast cancer. It hoped that this method could be used as a screening test for women in developing countries that do not have access to mammography.
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January 1, 2008 / Medical News Wire
Hospitals To Test Copper Surfaces In Germ Fight
Memorial Sloan-Kettering, the Medical University of South Carolina, and the Charleston Veterans Affairs Medical Center will be replacing some stainless surfaces in the intensive care units with copper surfaces to determine how long disease-causing bacteria can survive.
The lead researcher is Dr. Kent Sepkowitz at Memorial Sloan-Kettering.
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December 30, 2007 / Medical News Wire
Women Neurosurgeron Files State and Federal Discrimination Lawsuits Against Neurosurgery Chair At Brigham and Women's Hospital
Dr. Sagun Tuli has filed both a federal lawsuit and charges at the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination against Dr. Arthur Day, chair of the department of neurosurgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston Massachusetts.
She is the third women neurosurgeon of Indian descent to have filed charges in the last three years against the staff of the neurosurgery department at the hospital. Drs. Soni Deepa and Malini Narayanan have also filed charges alleging discrimination and retaliation.
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December 26, 2007 / Medical News Wire
Senior Civilian Trauma Surgeons Take Tour of Duty At Landstuhl Air Force Base To Aid Wounded
In a novel program, a team of surgeon civilian general surgery trauma specialists spent four weeks in Germany at the United States Military Hospital treating injured servicemen and women and sharing ideas and techniques with their military counterparts.
The civilian surgeons included Drs. Kimball I. Maull and Frederick Moore. The military surgeons participating included Col W. Bryan Gamble, Col Warren c. Dorlac, and Col A. Tyler Putnam.
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December 21, 2007 / Medical News Wire
Arizona Surgeon Who Snapped Photographs Of Patient's Genital No Longer At Mayo Clinic
The CEO of the Mayo Clinic Arizona Denis Cortese posted a statement on the hospital's website today that Dr. Adam Hansen is no longer practicing medicine at the Mayo Clinic. The announcement did not say if the general surgery chief resident resigned or was fired.
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December 21, 2007 / Medical News Wire
On-Call Specialists increasingly Hard To Find For Some Emergency Room Patients
Many hospitals and emergency room physicians across the country are finding it difficult to located orthopedic surgeons, neurosurgeons, and plastic surgeons who are willing to tolerate the risk of malpractice suits, the disruption of their personal lives and private practices, and the very real likelihood that they will not be paid for their their services by staffing ER on-call schedules.
Copyright 2007 InsideSurgery.comŽ