Surge

Bypass Heart Surgery Performed Without General Anesthesia

A minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass (MIDCAB) procedure was performed at Pittsburgh while the patient was awake. The operation was done under thoracic epidural anesthesia. This approach may help in discharging the patient early from the hospital. Dr. Zenati from the team of doctors who performed the surgery said that patients who are operated in this way may not have to go to the in...

NEW ROBOTIC SURGERY ARM APPROVED BY FDA

FDA today cleared for marketing a robotic device that enables a surgeon to perform laparoscopic gall bladder and reflux disease surgery while seated at a console with a computer and video monitor. The surgeon can use hand grips and foot pedals on the console to control three robotic arms that can perform the surgery using a variety of surgical tools. The product, the Da Vinci Surgical System, mad...

Thyroid hormone treatment hastens recovery after cardiac surgery

Thyroid hormone treatment after surgery requiring heart bypass speeds recovery in children undergoing correction of congenital heart defects, according to a clinical trial published in The Lancet. The effects were greatest in the patients who underwent long and difficult surgeries. Following trauma or surgery or during a critical illness, thyroid hormone concentrations plummet. Ma...

Indian Prime Minister has successful Knee Replacement Surgery

Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, the Prime Minister of India has successfully undergone left knee joint replacement by Dr. Chittaranjan Ranawat at the Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai. "The operation, which started at around 10 a.m., was completed by 11.15 a.m. and went on very well, to my satisfaction," Dr. Ranawat said at a press briefing. ``He (Mr. Vajpayee) was awake and comfortable throughout the op...

Two doctors suspended for wrong brain surgery

The unfortunate patient, Kevin Walsh...

Researchers urge caution in using ear tube surgery

Placing ear tubes in young children who develop fluid in the ears does not improve speech, hearing or psychological development, according to new research. Currently there are two reasons for ear tube surgery -- persistent, severe ear infections and liquid in the inner ear cavity of an otherwise healthy child. Doctors have been concerned that if surgery is not used in the second case, ch...

“Don’t fear long haul flights!” Vascular surgeon tells travelrs

Dr. John Scurr, a vascular surgeon at London's Middlesex Hospital, advices passengers, who fly long haul flights, that there is nothing to fear. The death of a woman on board an airliner, while she was flying a long distance flight, has sparked off this sudden debate that long flights can be fatal to many people. Dr. Scurr says this fear is unfounded and that people are just ove...

Surgery made simple

A new device has now been developed, which makes the process of providing artificial respiration to critically ill and comatose patients almost risk-free. The device, called Percutaneous Tracheostomy Kit would be used in the precutaneous procedure which involves giving artificial respiration to critically ill patients.// In the operation an opening is made in the w...

'Sweaty palms syndrome' can be cured by surgery

Hyperhidrosis is a debilitating condition that causes excessive sweating of the hands and feet.These people look like they have just run their hands under a faucet and have not dried them.These people look like they have just run their hands under a faucet and have not dried them. One person in 500 suffers from hyperhidrosis, the cause of which is unknown. Dr. Steven M. Kell...

Surviving surgery

According to a new study older patients run a higher risk from elective surgery. Researchers in the US have tried to quantify the risks associated with surgery, which should help patients and doctors make more wise choices. Deciding on having an operation is never a zero risk option. But sometimes it is essential for your future health.// Researchers believe that operative deaths for t...

Waking during surgery

Waking up during surgery causes psychological problems in the long run. Around half of all patients who wake during surgery experience long-lasting psychological trauma.Thankfully, it is rare to wake up when under anaesthesia. It happens to only 0.2 to 0.7 per cent of patients. Doctors at Boston University School of Medicine have studied a group of such people. They found they remember...

Supplement helps cardiac surgery

A nutritional supplement has been found to support immunity in elderly, frail and patients at risk undergoing heart surgery. After every operation, rate of infection is a common risk, especially for patients who have impaired immunity.Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh report on the use of a nutritional supplement which enhances the immune system in patients undergoing surgery.//...

Radiation before surgery cuts cancer recurrence

According to a report, giving radiation to surgical treatment for rectal cancer may not make much difference in the survival of patients. But the findings suggest that the radiation treatments given before surgery may help improve the patient's quality of life by reducing the rate of cancer recurrence at or near the original tumor site in the rectum. In about 15% to 45% of patients who...

Voice may be improved by surgery

Surgery for sinus problems or sleep apnoea has the potential to alter voice characteristics. One solution for sleep apnoea - a disorder where breathing stops many times during the night - is to remodel the nasal and throat cavity through surgery. Often the problem is that the uvula - a flap of tissue at the top of the throat obstructs night-time breathing.// If the uvula is trimmed -...

Surgery a safety in senility

Elderly patients with heart disease are twice as likely to have a better quality of life after an operation than with medication, research suggests. Researchers in a Swiss study looked at patients with an average age of 80 who suffered from chronic angina. Doctors either gave them medication, or referred them for an angioplasty - a treatment where a fine tube with a small inflatable b...

Emphysema surgery - unbeneficial

Lung reduction surgery for emphysema does not help the sickest patients, according to the latest report.In emphysema, the air sacs of the lungs - the alveoli - are progressively destroyed, leaving the patient so short of breath that they cannot do everyday activities like climbing stairs or carrying their shopping. In the mid-1990s, studies seemed to suggest that lung reduction surgery was bene...

New pancreatic surgery

People with disease of the pancreas can benefit from 'keyhole' surgery, according to a new study. Non-invasive - or 'keyhole' - surgery is increasing in popularity for a number of operations. It scores because there is no big scar and less time in hospital after the operation. Non-invasive surgery involves a tiny incision through which miniature instruments are inserted. The surgeon uses a comput...

Surgeons implant second artificial heart

Kentucky surgeons who implanted the world's first self-contained artificial heart in a 59-year-old man more than 2 months ago announced on Thursday that they have installed a second such device in a 70-year-old man. The latest patient, who was not identified, was recovering in intensive care at Jewish Hospital in Louisville, the hospital said in a statement. // The self-contained mech...

Breast Cancer Surgery Causes Psychological problems

About one third of women who undergo surgery for breast cancer will experience psychological problems, including obsessive-compulsive thoughts and anxiety following surgery, according to new research. Dr. Erica S. Breslau of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, and colleagues reported the findings at the American Public Health Association's annual meeting. // The researchers...

Protein signals need for heart surgery

Elevated levels of a protein released by damaged heart tissue may be a helpful signal for doctors to treat heart symptoms aggressively with surgery. Performing heart bypass surgery or angioplasty on patients with elevated levels of the protein troponin reduced mortality rates by an estimated 40 percent. // "Any sign of heart damage by troponin, whether a small amount or a large amou...

Radiofrequency Energy Cooks Tumors Without Surgery

Research conducted at the Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center shows that by using radiofrequency energy, doctors can now "cook" tumors without actually removing them. The non-surgical technique, used increasingly for kidney and liver cancers, can also be used on cancers elsewhere in the human body. // During radiofrequency ablation (RFA), a tiny needle is inserted into the tumor and...

Computers may become surgeons

Brain surgery, endoscopies and other complicated medical procedures could be made safer and faster in the future by using computers. Scientists from the University of California, Los Angeles are examining the way people use vision// to interact with their environment and are attempting to design computer systems based on their findings. Currently, surgeons routinely use technology tha...

Resurgence Of Botulism

The unfrozen ready-to-eat meals could lead to the resurgence of botulism as a major food poisoning hazard. Advances in freezing have made botulism a rare problem in modern society. But according to food scientists, a new generation of ready-to-eat foods// that are only refrigerated before sold could cause outbreaks of botulism. While most U.S. botulism cases involve mistakes in home ca...

Heart Surgery Is Getting Safer for the Old

According to researchers, the risk of undergoing open heart surgery for patients in their mid-eighties and beyond seems to dropping, making the procedure safe and advisable for the elderly.// According to Dr. Todd Rosengart, an associate professor of surgery at Southeastern University ,open heart surgery, if indicated, is safe and will improve quality of life in these patients," and h...

Surgery-Rigged pulley helps patients

According to Dr. John Poll, curing a laborious birth defect that left Alyssa Parente a sunken nose and hugely bulging eyes, sliced apart all the bones of her face but didn't re-join them before sewing her up.// Instead, 10-year-old Alyssa got a promising alternative to grueling bone grafts: Poll attached a pulley-like contraption to her facial bones that her parents tightened each day with a scre...

FDA Approves New surgery Treatment for Farsightedness

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a new treatment for farsightedness known as conductive keratoplasty. The technique uses radiofrequency energy to// shrink small areas of the cornea, the transparent coat on the surface of the eyeball. Unlike laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK), in which the surface of the eye is reshaped using a laser, conductive keratoplasty does not require cutt...

Blood Vessel Surgery Safe for Diabetics

People with diabetes are no more likely to die or suffer heart problems after major surgery involving the blood vessels than people without the condition. Diabetes, in which a person either loses the ability to respond to the sugar-processing hormone insulin //or doesn't produce the hormone at all, is a major risk factor for heart disease, kidney failure, blindness and limb amputations....

Ulcer Surgery connected to danger of Pancreatic Cancer

A new research suggests that the patients who undergo surgery to remove their ulcers may be at increased risk of later developing pancreatic cancer. The investigators base their findings on an analysis of 2,000 patients who underwent an operation known as gastrectomy to remove their ulcers.// Peptic ulcers are sores located in the lining of the stomach or a portion of the small intesti...

Surgery beneficial in Meniere's disease

According to a new research, surgery improves the quality of life for people with Meniere's disease. Meniere's disease is a disorder of the ear which leads to progressive deafness, dizziness, vomiting and tinnitus.The problem lies with a swelling of the endolymphatic duct in the ear// and this area can be the target of corrective surgery. Researchers at the Michigan Ear Institute in t...

The essence of cosmetic surgery

According to a new study, as the demand for facial cosmetic surgery has increased, so too has the price of procedures, Cosmetic surgery has never been more popular. Most products go down in price as demand goes up. Now economics researchers in Texas have looked at how cosmetic surgery, as a product//, has performed in the marketplace over the last decade. They surveyed 1,600 members...

Decrease of 'Hunger Hormone' after Obesity Surgery

According to researchers at the Puget Sound Health Care System, obese adults who undergo 'stomach stapling' have much lower levels of a recently discovered 'hunger hormone' than either normal-weight people or those who lose weight by dieting.// Dr. David E. Cumming from the Puget Sound Health Care System in Seattle, suggested that drugs that suppress the hormone called ghrelin could cu...

Surgery a safety in senility

Elderly patients with heart disease are twice as likely to have a better quality of life after an operation than with medication, research suggests. Researchers in a Swiss study looked at patients with an average age of 80 who suffered from chronic angina.// Doctors either gave them medication, or referred them for an angioplasty - a treatment where a fine tube with a small inflatable...

New surgery in head and neck cancer

Actuating heat to destroy cancerous tissue assists patients with advanced head and neck cancer. Radiofrequency ablation involves the use of heat to destroy malignant tissue. Including liver tumours, it has been used to effect in varied tumour types.Now researchers at Montefiore Medical Center, New York, report// the primary use of radiofrequency ablation in head and neck cancer. The group of...

Robotic Assisted Knee Replacement Surgery Has Improved Accuracy

The surgical outcome of partial knee replacement surgery has been has been found to be better owing to superior accuracy of robot assisted knee surgery compared to conventional surgery, // according to a latest study by researchers from Imperial College London. The research team, headed by Professor Justin Cobb and his surgical team set to examine the surgical outcome of patients who...

A simple way to do surgery

A new device has now been developed, which makes the process of providing artificial respiration to critically ill and comatose patients almost risk-free. The device, called Percutaneous Tracheostomy Kit would be used// in the precutaneous procedure which involves giving artificial respiration to critically ill patients. In the operation an opening is made in the wall of the trachea...

Comparing Breast surgery techniques

After a long period of study, it shows little difference in outcome between radical and more conservative breast surgery. The radical mastectomy - total removal of the breast and the nodes under the armpit// - is far less often done nowadays as a treatment for breast cancer. Surgeons are more likely to opt for a simple mastectomy or even a lumpectomy, which just removes the lump and conserves the...

Screening bypasses radical breast surgery

According to researchers at the Britain University, breast screening is linked with a fall of almost half in the number of mastectomies. A team working for the leading charity Cancer Research UK// has analyzed data from a group of 55,000 women in Florence, Italy, aged between 55 and 65. They find that following the introduction of a breast screening programme, the rate of mastectomy - removal of...

Useful device makes spinal surgery safer

Spinal surgery has always been a major one involving many tedious procedures. A useful monitoring device has been accepted that assures that spinal surgery does not affect movements in the arms and legs.// Operating on tumours and other problems in the spine is risky, because the surgeon might separate some of the nerves that are needed to allow movement in the limbs. Researchers at the State Uni...

Surgery a safety in senility

Elderly patients with heart disease are twice as likely to have a better quality of life after an operation than with medication, research suggests. Researchers in a Swiss study looked at patients with an average age of 80 who suffered from chronic angina.// Doctors either gave them medication, or referred them for an angioplasty - a treatment where a fine tube with a small inflatable...

Radiation before surgery cuts cancer reappearance

According to a report, giving radiation to surgical treatment for rectal cancer may not make much difference in the survival of patients. But the findings suggest that the radiation treatments given before surgery may help// improve the patient's quality of life by reducing the rate of cancer recurrence at or near the original tumor site in the rectum. In about 15% to 45% of patients w...