Elective Surgery News and Research

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Elective surgery is surgery that is not urgently required due to an emergency. Elective surgery may be performed for medical purposes, such as cataract surgery, or for other work such as breast implants. These are procedures that the person requiring them decides to undertake, and which may be helpful, but are not necessarily essential.

Five ways to better prepare for planned or elective surgery

What's a tried-and-true way to prepare for surgery and anesthesia? By paying close attention to the healthcare professionals who will be delivering your care and providing them with essential information about your health status, history, and habits.

31 Mar 2017

Day of the week has no effect on survival chances of people undergoing emergency surgery, study finds

Day of the week did not affect the survival chances of people undergoing emergency surgery, research has found.

22 Mar 2017

Preoperative opioid use may lead to complications, readmissions and high costs post surgery

Surgery patients often go home from the hospital with a prescription for painkillers to take as they recover.

9 Mar 2017

New guidelines provide recommendations for prevention and management of surgical site infections

A Loyola Medicine surgeon is first author of new guidelines for the prevention, detection and management of surgical site infections, which affect as many as 300,000 patients per year in the United States.

19 Jan 2017

Study reports link between postoperative delirium and elevations in inflammatory marker

Many people experience an extended period of confusion when they awake after surgery. This acute confusional state, called delirium, particularly affects older adults and poses an important clinical challenge as it can lead to greater postoperative complications and may extend hospitalization.

11 Jan 2017

Improving nurse-to-patient staffing may help decrease racial disparities in postoperative readmissions

A new study from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing's Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research shows that older black adults are not only more likely to be readmitted following an elective hip/knee replacement, than otherwise similar white patients - they may also be more adversely affected by insufficient hospital nurse staffing.

1 Nov 2016

Simple instruction sheet can increase patients' compliance to prescribed medications

Patients may be more likely to take their regularly prescribed medications for chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension correctly before surgery when provided a simple instruction sheet, reveals a study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY 2016 annual meeting.

25 Oct 2016

Preoperative anxiety may be huge problem among Latinos, new research suggests

Latinos may be more anxious than Caucasian patients about having surgery and also want more detailed information before having a procedure, suggests research being presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY 2016 annual meeting.

24 Oct 2016

Opioid naive individuals at low risk of developing persistent opioid use after surgery, research shows

Researchers from the University Health Network's Department of Anesthesia and Pain Management and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences have determined that patients who have not had an opioid prescription within a year prior to their procedure are at low risk of developing persistent opioid use after major surgery.

11 Aug 2016

Postoperative delirium negatively impacts functional recovery in older patients, study finds

Researchers from the Harvard Medical School-affiliated Hebrew SeniorLife Institute for Aging Research, in collaboration with scientists from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Brown University, and Northeastern University, have discovered that postoperative delirium negatively impacts recovery in older adults.

10 Aug 2016

Study shows how increase in BMI contributes to multiple myeloma growth and progression

In a new study published in Cancer Letters, American University researchers show how, as body mass index increases, so does the growth and spread of the blood cancer multiple myeloma, which accounts for about 10 percent of all blood cancers in patients.

12 Jul 2016

Study finds preoperative falls common among adults of all age groups

In a large study of 15,000 adults undergoing elective surgery, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that falling up to six months before an operation is common and often causes serious injuries — not only in elderly patients but across all age groups. Surprisingly, the frequency of falls among middle-aged patients was slightly higher than those who were age 65 or older.

4 Jul 2016

$ART trial: Adacolumn shows clinical benefit in refractory ulcerative colitis patients$

ART trial: Adacolumn shows clinical benefit in refractory ulcerative colitis patients

Data from the 48-week ART trial, presented today at the Digestive Disease Week meeting, showed that remission and response rates were 37.2% and 53.2% respectively at week 12, in patients with moderate-to-severe, steroid-dependent active ulcerative colitis (UC) with insufficient response or intolerance to immunosuppressants and / or biologics when treated with between five and eight sessions with Adacolumn.

26 May 2016

Overnight extubations in ICU patients linked to higher mortality

Adult patients who were admitted to U.S. intensive care units had higher mortality if they were extubated overnight. The results reported at the ATS 2016 International Conference may discourage hospital administrators from expanding the practice of overnight extubations in ICUs, which the lead author noted are rapidly being transformed to provide continuity of care.

18 May 2016

Study: Post hospital syndrome is significant risk factor for patients undergoing elective surgery

A condition known as "post hospital syndrome" (PHS) is a significant risk factor for patients who undergo elective outpatient surgery, a Loyola study has found.

11 Nov 2015

Inflammation plays role in onset of delirium in older adults

Delirium is an acute state of confusion that often affects older adults following surgery or serious illness. Now a study led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center confirms that inflammation - an immune response that develops when the body attempts to protect itself from harmful stimuli -- plays a role in the onset of delirium.

28 Jul 2015

Reduced pain, disability predict satisfaction after spine surgery

Patient satisfaction ratings after surgery for spinal degenerative disease—especially in terms of reduced pain and disability—are a good indicator of the procedure's effectiveness, reports a study in the August issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.

25 Jul 2015

Less invasive endovascular aortic repair benefits most patients, provides quick recovery

Each year, nearly 40,000 Americans undergo elective surgery to repair an abdominal aortic aneurysm with the goal of preventing a life-threatening rupture of this potentially dangerous cardiovascular condition.

24 Jul 2015

Academics call for more research to understand hospital weekend death risk

Two academics from the University of Warwick say more research is needed to understand why patients are more likely to die in hospital at the weekend.

7 Jul 2015

Atrial fibrillation patients who stop blood thinners before elective surgery have less risk of major bleeding

Patients with atrial fibrillation who stopped taking blood thinners before they had elective surgery had no higher risk of developing blood clots and less risk of major bleeding compared to patients who were given a "bridge" therapy, according to research led by Duke Medicine.

23 Jun 2015