Medical Procedure News

RSS

Bariatric surgery for severely obese patients leads to weight loss and improves insulin sensitivity

In a study published in the current issue of The American Journal of Medicine, researchers from the State University of Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil; Catholic University, Rome, Italy; and the University of Pisa, Italy, found that the degree of improvement depended on the surgical technique used, comparing biliopancreatic diversion to gastric bypass.

25 Jan 2005

Nasogastric tube after abdominal surgery slows recovery

Routine use of a nasogastric tube after abdominal surgery, once thought to speed the return of normal intestinal functions, actually slows recovery, according to a new review of research.

24 Jan 2005

Adding radiation therapy to chemotherapy improves survival in patients with high-risk breast cancer

For patients with high-risk breast cancer treated with radical mastectomy and adjuvant chemotherapy, the addition of radiation therapy leads to better survival outcomes with few long-term toxic effects, according to a 20-year follow-up of a randomized trial, which appears in the January 19 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

19 Jan 2005

Do well-trained hospital staff perform CPR properly?

University of Chicago Hospitals, Chicago, and colleagues conducted a study to determine whether well-trained hospital staff perform CPR compressions and ventilations according to guideline recommendations.

19 Jan 2005

CPR often does not meet or adhere to standard guidelines

New research indicates that CPR performed outside the hospital and in the hospital often does not meet or adhere to standard guidelines, according to 2 studies in the January 19 issue of JAMA.

19 Jan 2005

Hypnosis helps kids undergoing difficult procedure called voiding cystourethography

Elaine Miller desperately wanted to find a way to help her daughter, Hannah, endure an awkward and painful medical examination in which doctors insert a catheter into her bladder, inject a dye and ask her to urinate while being X-rayed.

4 Jan 2005

FDA clearance for laser contact bone removal

Lumenis Ltd., and OpusDent Ltd., its dental laser division, announced the FDA clearance of the OpusDuo™ Er:YAG laser system for contact bone removal during oral surgical and periodontal procedures.

From Lumenis Inc. 3 Jan 2005

Speculoscopy directly after a Pap smear may detect more cervical lesions than the Pap test alone

Inspecting the cervix with a bright light technology called speculoscopy directly after a Pap smear may detect more cervical lesions than the Pap test alone, according to a new review of studies about the procedure.

28 Dec 2004

Laser therapy may be considered by arthritis patients as a safe Vioxx alternative

Adverse events of long term medication with NSAIDs and particularly coxibs, has recently received much attention in the Vioxx matter. Consequently, Vioxx has been withdrawn and Prexige has been withheld from the market. The whole group of coxibs, are now under special observation by drug agencies in both Europe and the United States.

27 Dec 2004

40-year tale of investigation and innovation into the challenge of hip implant failure

A remarkable story of how a new disease was inadvertently caused by successful medical treatment, ultimately understood, and eventually defeated by scientific innovation is being told a major player in the process.

22 Dec 2004

Success of surgery for ovarian cancer

Results of the first randomized control trial conducted in the United States to help determine the success of surgery for ovarian cancer have been published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

21 Dec 2004

Confusion over Lasik eye surgery terminology

The Eye Surgery Education Council of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery Foundation today issued a clarification on the use of the terms "wavefront-guided," and "wavefront-optimized" in connection with laser-based procedures (LASIK, PRK, etc.) and implantable lenses used for vision correction purposes.

20 Dec 2004

Landmark revascularization procedure

The People's Hospital of Beijing University performed a combined revascularization procedure utilizing beating heart bypass surgery, along with transmyocardial revascularization and stem cell implantation.

13 Dec 2004

Cardiovascular experts issue blueprint for safer X-Ray imaging

Millions of invasive cardiovascular procedures that involve the use of potentially hazardous X-rays are done in the United States each year.

8 Dec 2004

Cardiac surgery mortality rates continue to decline

New Jersey’s sixth cardiac surgery report card shows that mortality rates continued to decline in 2001 to the lowest levels since reporting began in the state, Health and Senior Services Commissioner Clifton R. Lacy, M.D., announced yesterday.

7 Dec 2004

New surgical procedure enables men born with a very small penis to acquire an average-sized one

A surgical procedure being pioneered by University College London (UCL) urologists is enabling men born with a very small penis to acquire an average-sized, functioning penis which not only allows them to urinate normally, but for many, to enjoy a full sex life for the first time.

6 Dec 2004

Smoking, a major problem in plastic surgery

Smoking is known to cause heart disease and cancer, but most patients do not know that smoking can harm the chances of having successful plastic surgery operations.

6 Dec 2004

Heart Hospital begins experimental cell therapy

Physicians at the Heart Hospital became the first team in the UK to treat a patient with an experimental new therapy designed to repair damage to cardiac muscle resulting from a heart attack. If successful, this treatment would give doctors the ability to improve the hearts of people with heart failure, rather than just treating the symptoms.

6 Dec 2004

System helps physicians prevent radiation-induced skin injuries to patients

The threading of slender catheters and stents through arteries to deliver treatments to the heart, the brain and elsewhere in the body has produced nothing short of a medical revolution.

4 Dec 2004

Virtual colonoscopy raises issues for further study

The American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) has reacted with caution to claims of the benefits of computed tomography (CT) colonography, also referred to as virtual colonoscopy, compared to standard colonoscopy.

29 Nov 2004