Surgery News and Research

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Surgery pricing secrets: The challenges patients face

Patients are the losers in both the Democratic and Republican versions of the health care reform bills. Proposed health care reform won't help patients find out how much health care costs before they get care and many hospitals aren't set up to help.

4 Feb 2010

ASTRO leads the way to help physicians improve safety and reduce medical errors

The American Society for Radiation Oncology has committed to a six-point patient protection plan that will improve safety and quality and reduce the chances of medical errors, ASTRO Board Chairman Tim R. Williams, M.D., said today.

4 Feb 2010

Around seven in every thousand morbidly obese people are missing part of their DNA

A small but significant proportion of morbidly obese people are missing a section of their DNA, according to research published today in Nature. The authors of the study, from Imperial College London and ten other European Centres, say that missing DNA such as that identified in this research may be having a dramatic effect on some people's weight.

4 Feb 2010

Penrose-St. Francis Health Systems selects CardiacAssist's TandemHeart System

CardiacAssist Inc. announced today that Penrose-St. Francis Health Systems, Colorado Springs, Colo., has adopted the company’s TandemHeart® System.

4 Feb 2010

Study on the role of MCP-1 in obese patients with pancreatic cancer

The levels of an inflammatory chemokine were significantly elevated in patients with pancreatic cancer who were extremely obese, according to research conducted by scientists at the Jefferson Pancreatic, Biliary and Related Cancers Center. They presented their data at the 5th Annual Academic Surgical Congress, held in San Antonio.

4 Feb 2010

New technique may reduce recovery time in arrhythmia patients

A surgeon and an electrophysiologist in the Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center last week worked together to perform a novel, minimally-invasive procedure to treat a common but dangerous arrhythmia in a 61-year-old lawyer from east Texas who has suffered from the condition for months.

4 Feb 2010

FDA approves Xiaflex drug for treatment of Dupuytren's contracture

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Xiaflex, a new drug to treat Dupuytren's contracture (or disease) that was discovered and developed by Marie A. Badalamente, Ph.D., and Lawrence C. Hurst, M.D., in the Department of Orthopaedics at Stony Brook University Medical Center.

4 Feb 2010

Study could lead to non-surgical alternatives for tonsillectomies

Children with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) may one day be able to have an injection or use a throat spray instead of getting their tonsils removed to cure their snoring, according to a new study from the University of Chicago, which found that a specific gene product may be responsible for the proliferation of adenotonsillar tissue that can cause pediatric OSA.

4 Feb 2010

Geisinger Health System and TGen sign research agreement

Geisinger Health System and the Translational Genomics Research Institute today announced the signing of a strategic research agreement that provides a focused look at the gaps in clinical medicine where biomedical research can make a difference.

4 Feb 2010

TGen, Geisinger Health System sign strategic research agreement

The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and Geisinger Health System today announced the signing of a strategic research agreement that provides for a focused look at the gaps in clinical medicine where biomedical research can make a difference.

4 Feb 2010

Tough economy adds stress to hospitals; Community health centers help fill gaps

Hospitals get mixed marks while many suffer from the effects of the struggling economy. Meanwhile, community health centers increasingly provide more care and help fill in health care gaps.

4 Feb 2010

Major study of perfusion imaging under way to assess value of alternative diagnostic methods

Cardiologists and heart imaging specialists at 15 medical centers in eight countries, and led by researchers at Johns Hopkins, have enrolled the first dozen patients in a year-long investigation to learn whether the subtle squeezing of blood flow through the inner layers of the heart is better than traditional SPECT nuclear imaging tests and other diagnostic radiology procedures for accurately tracking the earliest signs of coronary artery clogs.

3 Feb 2010

New study compares two treatment options for clubfoot - Ponseti method and surgical treatment

Clubfoot affects one in a thousand babies born in the United States, but with proper corrective treatment and follow-up, infants born with clubfoot can have feet compatible with an active, normal lifestyle.

3 Feb 2010

Penn Medicine experts available to offer medical insight and commentary during 2010 Winter Olympics

Experts from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine are available to offer expert medical insight and commentary during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver on issues ranging from the effects of performance enhancing drugs to concerns about the spread of novel H1N1, head trauma and more.

3 Feb 2010

Virtual tool enhances cataract surgery training programs

The Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary Cataract Surgery Trainer, a virtual training tool which helps to train physicians to perform cataract surgery, has been shown to enhance teaching in cataract surgery when compared to traditional teaching methods.

3 Feb 2010

Certain cancer surgeries for low-risk patients may be performed at community hospitals

Low-risk patients who require certain cancer surgeries can have the procedures performed with low operative mortality rates at community hospitals, according to a new study.

3 Feb 2010

Patient-specific knee resurfacing implants now available for Inland Empire residents

Inland Empire residents suffering from knee pain can finally take a sigh of relief thanks to the availability of minimally traumatic, patient-specific knee resurfacing implants.

3 Feb 2010

International experts to develop comprehensive guidelines for Negative Pressure Wound Therapy

An international group of experts on Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT) will assemble this week to develop a comprehensive, evidence-based consensus on the use of NPWT. The International NPWT Expert Panel is drafting recommendations for a range of NPWT indications and techniques that reflect the body of NPWT published clinical evidence.

3 Feb 2010

Baker's yeast promising against cancer

A researcher at Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science is investigating the potential use of non-pathogenic baker's yeast as a promising, natural therapy for cancer.

3 Feb 2010

Florida surgeon receives '2009 Country Doctor of the Year' award

For most of the last 30 years, a 90-mile strip of the Florida Keys was covered by one surgeon and one surgeon alone, Dr. Steven J. Smith, of Marathon, Florida. For two and a half decades, Dr. Smith covered two hospitals located over 40 miles apart, often making the drive between facilities three times daily, while being on call around the clock, 365 days a year.

3 Feb 2010