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.

Implementation of better blood-management plan changes culture at UAB

Blood is in big demand at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital, once the fourth largest user of blood among U.S. hospitals served by the American Red Cross. And although blood transfusions can be life-saving during cancer care, trauma, surgery, transplants and difficult pregnancies, supply doesn't always rise to meet demand.

27 Aug 2013

Four simple steps increase chances of preoperative smoking cessation

A simple four-part program-including referral to a quit-smoking hotline and a free supply of nicotine patches-can increase the percentage of patients who quit smoking before undergoing surgery, reports a study in the September issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).

23 Aug 2013

Researchers find recurrent genetic mutation linked to deadly thoracic aortic dissections

A multi-institutional team led by Dianna Milewicz, M.D., Ph.D., of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) has found a recurrent genetic mutation that has been linked to deadly thoracic aortic dissections in family members as young as 17 years of age.

16 Aug 2013

Bristol-Myers Squibb, Pfizer announce FDA acceptance of Eliquis sNDA for review

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and Pfizer Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has accepted for review a Supplemental New Drug Application for Eliquis (apixaban), for the prophylaxis of deep vein thrombosis, which may lead to pulmonary embolism, in adult patients who have undergone hip or knee replacement surgery.

11 Jul 2013

People receiving emergency gallbladder surgery are more likely to experience complications

If you have severe pain just below the right side of your rib cage, you may have a gallbladder problem. And it is typically better to seek medical attention sooner than later.

28 Jun 2013

Johns Hopkins researchers find interstate variations in rates of emergency bowel surgeries

Johns Hopkins researchers have documented huge and somewhat puzzling interstate variations in the percentage of emergency versus elective bowel surgeries. Figuring out precisely why the differences occur is critical, they say, because people forced to undergo emergency procedures are far more likely to die from their operations than those able to plan ahead for them.

5 Jun 2013

Highlights: Geography's role in elective surgeries in Calif.; Conn. Democrats eye shifting $400M in Medicaid money; HHS says Cedars-Sinai has $2.2M in billing errors

Geography plays a role in whether patients in California have elective operations such as joint replacement, weight loss surgery and gallbladder removal, according to a new study. The California HealthCare Foundation study showed wide variations in patient surgeries across the state (Gorman, 5/22).

24 May 2013

First Edition: May 23, 2013

Today's headlines include various status updates about state activity regarding the health law's online insurance marketplaces.

23 May 2013

State roundup: Nearly 13,000 Calif. hospital workers set to strike

Respiratory therapists, nursing aides, surgical technicians and other patient care workers plan to stage a walkout starting Tuesday morning at five University of California medical centers. More than 12,000 workers from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees are expected to participate in the two-day strike over staffing, pay and pension reform, union officials said. An additional 3,400 workers from the University Professional and Technical Employees union plan a one-day sympathy strike (Gorman, 5/21).

22 May 2013

Boston Scientific presents data on breakthrough products at Digestive Disease Week 2013

Boston Scientific Corporation is scheduled to participate in Digestive Disease Week 2013, May 18-21 in Orlando, Fla.

20 May 2013

Study examines impact of adult behaviors on children's coping and distress after surgery

A study in the April issue of Anesthesiology found adult behaviors influence children's coping in the recovery room after surgery. In addition, the study from Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital, New Haven, CT, identified specific adult behaviors that increase or decrease the likelihood children will become distressed.

21 Mar 2013

Dabigatran decreases risk of recurrent venous thromboembolism

New findings from two double-blind, randomized trials, RE-MEDY and RE-SONATE, show that dabigatran 150 mg twice daily reduces the risk of recurrent venous thromboembolism (VTE).

21 Feb 2013

Hospitals may be unfairly punished for high readmission rates

When hospital patients have to be readmitted soon after discharge, hospitals look bad. A high readmission rate also can result in reduced Medicare reimbursements. But a study of spine surgery patients has found that the standard method used to calculate readmission rates is a misleading indicator of hospital quality.

16 Feb 2013

Study finds negligible effect on periprocedural outcomes among patients after spine surgery

The "July effect"-the notion that the influx of new residents and fellows at teaching hospitals in July of each year adversely affects patient care and outcomes-was examined in a very large data set of hospitalizations for patients undergoing spine surgery. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic and the University of Virginia Health System found a negligible effect on periprocedural outcomes among patients treated by spine surgery.

30 Jan 2013

TAPS supports preoperative transfusion

Preoperative transfusion may protect sickle cell patients from surgical complications, suggest findings published in The Lancet.

29 Jan 2013

Bristol-Myers Squibb, Pfizer receive FDA approval for ELIQUIS to reduce risk of stroke and SE

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and Pfizer Inc. announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved ELIQUIS (apixaban) to reduce the risk of stroke and systemic embolism in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation.

2 Jan 2013

Updated U.S. prescribing information for Boehringer Ingelheim’s Pradaxa

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the U.S. prescribing information for Pradaxa (dabigatran etexilate mesylate) capsules was updated to include a contraindication related to use in patients with mechanical prosthetic heart valve replacement.

21 Dec 2012

Arthritis, rheumatism and total joint arthroplasty: an interview with Dr Ravi and Dr Hawker

Arthritis translates to “joint inflammation.” The most common form of arthritis is osteoarthritis (OA), which affects 12-15% of North Americans over the age of 60, and will increase in prevalence as our population ages.

19 Dec 2012

Dialysis raises complication, mortality risk after general surgery

Long-term dialysis patients undergoing general surgical procedures have a significantly increased risk for postoperative complications and death within 30 days of surgery compared with their nondialysis counterparts, study findings show.

15 Nov 2012

Study addresses cost of patient care in acute care surgical settings

An acute care surgery model led to improvement in the quality of surgical patient care and reduced the cost of emergency surgical care at Loma Linda University Medical Center, report researchers who published their findings in the November issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

7 Nov 2012