Surgery News and Research

RSS

Cannabis effective at relieving pain after major surgery

A cannabis plant extract provides pain relief for patients after major surgery such as knee replacements, a study by Imperial College London and the Medical Research Council has shown.

17 May 2006

First animal model that mimics human head and neck cancer

An Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute research laboratory has developed a novel mouse model designed specifically to study the often devastating head and neck squamous cell cancers.

16 May 2006

Review identifies factors that influence patient treatment choice for localized prostate cancer

Variables that influence a patients' choice of treatment for localized prostate cancer (CaP) are identified in a literature review that is authored by Dr. Zeliadt and colleagues and appears in the on-line version of Cancer, 2006.

16 May 2006

Renal cell carcinoma in the pediatric population

While the incidence of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is rising, it remains a relatively uncommon malignancy in the pediatric population, where it represents only 2-6% of solid renal malignancies.

16 May 2006

Role of acetaminophen in acute myocardial infarction

Acetaminophen is safe to use as a pain reliever and fever reducer after a heart attack, but it does not protect the heart muscle, a new study using sheep and rabbits concluded.

16 May 2006

Twins joined at birth successfully undergo lengthy surgery

It took over seven hours but a team of 30 doctors, which included 18 surgeons from different specialties at the Mayo Clinic, to complete the surgery.

14 May 2006

Researchers improve delivery of health care for pediatric patients

Having a young child scheduled for a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computed tomography (CT) scan to diagnose a potentially serious condition can be worrying for parents.

11 May 2006

Potential for organ donation in the United Kingdom

The biggest obstacle to improving the organ donation rate in the United Kingdom is the number of relatives who refuse consent, say researchers in this week's British Medical Journal.

11 May 2006

Claims that medicine is rife with malpractice lawsuits 'overblown'

According to new research, contrary to public perception, people who file lawsuits against doctors accusing them of medical mistakes rarely do so frivolously, and those who do submit trivial claims as a rule receive no payout.

11 May 2006

Usual practices in surgical site preparation do not reduce infections

Antiseptic cleansing and body hair removal do not reduce surgical site infections, investigators report in two new reviews of studies of these common preoperative practices.

11 May 2006

Intrauterine device as satisfactory as surgery for treating heavy menstrual bleeding

For women who experience heavy periods, surgery is more effective than oral or intrauterine medication in reducing volume of bleeding at one year, according to a systematic review of studies.

11 May 2006

Gene amplification could guide treatment for high-risk breast cancer

A new study shows that breast cancer patients with an "amplification," or greater number of copies, of the TOP2A gene are 45% more likely than women who do not have this amplification to benefit from a longer course of anthracycline-based adjuvant chemotherapy.

11 May 2006

Neuren granted US patent for NNZ-2566

Neuren Pharmaceuticals has announced that its patent application entitled "GPE Analogs and Peptidomimetics" (PCT/US02/16361) has been issued in the United States (US Patent No: 7,041,314) on 9 May 2006.

10 May 2006

Debate over medical malpractice litigation continues

The Senate is expected to vote soon on legislation to impose a federal cap on noneconomic damages in malpractice suits, following on similar bills that passed the House of Representatives but stalled in the Senate last year.

10 May 2006

Human factors/ergonomics professionals are improving health care

The latest issue of Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society contains a special section describing ways in which human factors/ergonomics professionals are improving health care.

10 May 2006

Unique protein expression could serve as a screening test for head and neck cancers

The blood of patients with head and neck cancer appears to have unique patterns of protein expression that one day could serve as a screening test for the highly aggressive cancer that is often diagnosed too late, researchers say.

10 May 2006

Local clinical quality monitoring for detection of excess operative deaths

If convicted murderer Dr Harold Shipman had been working as a surgeon or anaesthetist at a specialist UK heart hospital in Cambridge, increased patient death rates would have alerted clinical audit staff after eight to ten months, according to research in the latest issue of Anaesthesia.

10 May 2006