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.

Some hospitals continue with elective surgeries despite COVID-19 crisis

In the same week that physicians at the University of California-San Francisco medical center were wiping down and reusing protective equipment like masks and gowns to conserve resources amid a surge of COVID-19 patients, 90 miles away teams of doctors at UC Davis Medical Center were fully suited up performing breast augmentations, hip replacements and other elective procedures that likely could have been postponed.

21 Mar 2020

New multipronged program helps surgeons reduce opioid prescriptions by two-thirds

Opioid prescriptions have been a known driver of the opioid epidemic, and it's now known that opioid prescriptions that last longer than five days are a risk factor for longer-term opioid use.

2 Mar 2020

Tailoring care for older patients after emergency surgery can greatly improves outcomes

Tailoring care for older patients who have had emergency surgery can reduce complications and deaths, decrease the length of hospital stays and cut down on the need for alternate care at discharge, according to a new study led a University of Alberta researcher.

18 Feb 2020

One in five operations with in-network surgeons and facilities could result in surprise bills

As if recovering from surgery wasn't hard enough, a new study shows that one in five operations could result in an unwelcome surprise: a bill for hundreds or thousands of dollars that the patient didn't know they might owe.

11 Feb 2020

Pain management program uses new approach to reduce narcotic prescriptions after surgery

Surgeons at Houston Methodist Hospital are stemming the tide of addiction to prescription opioids by managing patients' pain after surgery.

22 Jan 2020

Coping with (power) loss: California’s hospitals, clinics, patients face new reality

We all know that when the power goes out, refrigerators, heaters and air conditioners stop running. Homes go dark, and desktop computers shut down.

27 Nov 2019

Gene linked to Alzheimer’s plays indirect role in increasing delirium risk

Marked by acute temporary confusion, disorientation and/or agitation, postoperative delirium is the most common post-surgical complication in older adults, striking as many as half of adults older than 65 who undergo high-risk procedures such as cardiac surgery or hip replacements.

21 Nov 2019

Frail patients more likely to die even after low-stress surgical procedures

The threshold for when to perform elective surgery in a frail patient may be much higher than previously thought, according to new research coauthored by Paula Shireman, M.D., M.S., M.B.A., of UT Health San Antonio. The journal JAMA Surgery published the findings Nov. 13.

13 Nov 2019

People with higher multimorbidity scores have faster brain decline, greater suicide risk

Having arthritis, or diabetes, or heart disease can change a person's life, getting in the way of daily activities and requiring special diets and medicines.

20 Jun 2019

Most people visiting testing clinics before elective surgery lack advance directive

The majority of people visiting preoperative testing clinics before an elective surgery do not have an advance directive in case of surgical complications.

18 Jun 2019

New tool seeks to predict postoperative delirium severity in older adults

A new tool seeks to predict the severity of patients' postoperative delirium and help practitioners more effectively care for patients as they recover from surgery.

11 Jun 2019

Delirium increases risk of cognitive dysfunction, but only in the first postoperative month

New research indicates that older patients who develop delirium-; an acute attentional deficit that waxes and wanes, right after surgery are more likely to show signs of postoperative cognitive dysfunction one month later.

29 May 2019

Researchers link protein clusterin to many facets of cardiometabolic syndrome risk

During a study spanning nearly a decade, researchers at The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Houston Methodist Research Institute and Houston Methodist Cancer Center have linked the protein clusterin - for the first time -- to many different facets of cardiometabolic syndrome risk through its actions in the liver.

4 Feb 2019

New report explores the wide-ranging questions on death

Should death be defined in strictly biological terms — as the body's failure to maintain integrated functioning of respiration, blood circulation, and neurological activity?

6 Jan 2019

Study highlights need for personalized approach to treat ICU acquired delirium

A population heath study from the Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University Center for Aging Research has determined that halo, did not benefit elective thoracic surgery ICU patients when given prophylactically, with the possible exception of those who have had surgery to remove their esophagus.

14 Dec 2018

Blood pressure medication slows enlargement of the aorta in patients with Marfan syndrome

Treatment with a drug to lower blood pressure slows enlargement (dilatation) of the aorta in children and young adults with Marfan syndrome, according to late breaking results from the AIMS trial presented today in a Hot Line Session at ESC Congress 2018.

28 Aug 2018

Doling out pain pills post-surgery: An ingrown toenail not the same as a bypass

What's the right painkiller prescription to send home with a patient after gallbladder surgery or a cesarean section?

22 Jun 2018

That ‘living will’ you signed? At the ER, it could be open to interpretation.

"Don't resuscitate this patient; he has a living will," the nurse told Dr. Monica Williams-Murphy, handing her a document.

14 Jun 2018

$Study evaluates wait times for urgent hip fracture surgery in Ontario$

Study evaluates wait times for urgent hip fracture surgery in Ontario

About two-thirds of patients admitted to hospital in Ontario for hip fracture did not receive surgery during the recommended time window of 24 hours, according to a new study in CMAJ

11 Jun 2018

Cataract surgery can be safely performed on Ebola survivors with eye disease

Cataract surgery can be safely performed on Ebola virus disease survivors with impaired vision, Emory Eye Center ophthalmologists and 40 colleagues around the world report.

4 Apr 2018