Perioperative News and Research

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Discovery of important links between heart failure and complications during non-cardiac surgery

In the largest study of its kind in the U.S., researchers from Duke University have identified a possible "perfect storm" of factors pushing heart failure to the forefront of risks for complications after surgery in the elderly.

26 Mar 2008

Best way to treat abdominal aortic aneurysms

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) - a condition in which the large vessel that supplies blood to your abdomen, legs, and pelvis swells to over 50 percent its normal size -occurs in approximately 4 out of 100 adults.

4 Feb 2008

Acute renal failure after non-cardiac operations

Patients undergoing major, non-cardiac surgery have a one percent risk of developing kidney failure, and those who do have kidney damage are at increased risk of death within a month after their operation.

26 Nov 2007

Recent colds influence adverse respiratory events after surgery in children

For children undergoing general anesthesia for surgery or other procedures, the risks of several adverse respiratory (breathing-related) events are greater if the child has recently had a cold or other upper respiratory infection (URI).

24 Oct 2007

Anesthesia passport ensures optimal care

A patient “passport,” outlining individual anesthetic experiences and side effects, can help patients to better understand the procedures they have undergone in the operating room and potentially avoid future, unnecessary complications.

15 Oct 2007

New guidelines for cardiac testing and treatments

People with heart disease should take special precautions before undergoing any kind of surgery, even noncardiac surgery, to reduce their risk of a cardiac event, according to new joint guidelines from the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association.

27 Sep 2007

FDA committees recommend continued U.S. marketing for Trasylol

The Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee and the Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) held a meeting to discuss the risk /benefit profile of Trasylol (aprotinin injection), a Bayer drug used in coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery.

13 Sep 2007

Call for renewed efforts to develop standard definitions and terminology for anesthesia

The absence of standardized definitions for events and outcomes during and after anesthesia for surgery has major implications for anesthesiology research and practice, as well as for public perceptions of anesthesia care, according to an editorial by two leading anesthesiology researchers.

24 Jul 2007

Schering-Plough announces licensing of Acadesine

Schering-Plough Corporation has announced the worldwide licensing of acadesine, an investigational, potentially first-in-class adenosine regulating agent (ARA), from PeriCor Therapeutics, Inc., a privately held, specialty biopharmaceutical company.

20 Jul 2007

Baxter presents findings from the ADAPT study

Baxter Healthcare Corporation has announced the presentation of findings from the ADAPT (Analysis of Data from ADVATE Prospective Trials) study program database showing a statistically significant relationship between the duration of time spent with factor VIII blood levels below one international unit per deciliter (1 IU/dL, one percent of normal factor VIII level) and an increase in the annual bleed rate in people with hemophilia A.

11 Jul 2007

Use of blockers and statins to prevent heart complications during surgery questioned

The use of drugs to prevent heart complications during surgery is called into question in this week's BMJ.

23 Jun 2007

Bariatric surgery should not be denied solely based on age or Medicare status

Complications after bariatric surgery appear similar between patients younger and older than age 60 and also between Medicare recipients and non-recipients, according to a study in the June issue of Archives of Surgery.

19 Jun 2007

Obese patients are at higher risk for pancreatic surgery perioperative complications

Obesity may contribute to a greater likelihood of post-operative complications for patients having pancreatic surgery, a surgeon at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital has found.

5 Jun 2007

Obese patients are at higher risk for pancreatic surgery complications

Obesity may contribute to a greater likelihood of post-operative complications for patients having pancreatic surgery, a surgeon at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital has found.

1 Jun 2007

New guidelines for blood conservation during cardiac procedures

A team of medical experts led by a Virginia Commonwealth University anesthesiologist and a thoracic surgeon from the University of Kentucky has established a set of clinical guidelines to help physicians decrease the need for blood transfusions in high-risk patients during cardiac operations.

17 May 2007

Doctors remove woman's gallbladder through her vagina

In what must be a first surgeons have removed a woman's gallbladder from her body through her vagina.

22 Apr 2007

Gall bladder removed vaginally using endoscope

Medical and surgical endoscopists at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center removed a woman's gall bladder using a flexible endoscope with only minimal external incisions.

21 Apr 2007

Blood pressure control with Clevidipine

Researchers report that an investigational anti-hypertensive therapy may perform better in controlling blood pressure than standard treatments for patients undergoing heart surgery, during a presentation at the American College of Cardiology's 56th Annual Scientific Session.

30 Mar 2007

High blood glucose levels may signal an increased risk for cancer in women

The March journal also includes a study that found a link between high levels of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in a person's bloodstream and insulin resistance, a precursor for type 2 diabetes.

27 Feb 2007

Aprotinin use associated with an increased risk of death following CABG surgery

Aprotinin, a drug used for limiting blood loss in patients undergoing cardiac surgery, is associated with an increased risk of death during five years following the surgery, according to a new study in the February 7 issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

7 Feb 2007