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Results for search "Surgery: Misc.".

02 Dec

Surgery versus Antibiotics in Childhood Appendicitis

A new study finds antibiotic-only treatment for appendicitis in children is safe, effective and less costly than surgery.

Health News Results - 268

Removing, Storing Patient's Blood Before Liver Surgery Helps Avoid Transfusions

Canadian Rowan Ladd scratched her head when doctors said they might bank a blood donation from her at the start of her 2022 liver surgery, but she figured it couldn’t hurt.

“You’re told before surgery that the liver is so full of blood vessels that there are risks of major bleeding,” Ladd, a 46-year-old Ottawa mother of two, said in a news release. “I thought...

Insurer Anthem Rescinds Anesthesia Policy Change After Backlash

After facing weeks of pushback, health insurer Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield said Thursday it will not go ahead with a policy change that would have limited reimbursements for anesthesia during medical procedures.

If the proposed policy had taken effect, it would have only reimbursed doctors based on time limits set by the insurer.

When the change was first announced last month, t...

Antibiotics or Surgery: What's Best for Child Appendicitis?

For decades, surgery to remove an inflamed appendix has been a rite of childhood for many.

But a new study says treating appendicitis with antibiotics, rather than surgery, is the best way to address most cases.

Using antibiotics to treat uncomplicated cases of appendicitis resulted in less pain and fewer days off from school for kids, researchers report in the

  • Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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  • December 2, 2024
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    • Woman Receives World's First Robotic Double-Lung Transplant

    A 57-year-old woman with COPD has received the world's first fully robotic double lung transplant.

    The breakthrough surgery was performed in October at NYU Langone Health in New York City by Dr. Stephan...

    There May Be a Better Way to Treat Hematoma Brain Bleeds

    After a hit to the head or a fall, people, especially seniors, can develop a dangerous pooling of blood and fluid between the brain's surface and it's protective covering, the dura.

    These "subdural hematomas" typically require surgery to fix, but a new study suggests a better approach, one that makes sure repeat surgeries aren't required.

    That's important, because “even after...

    1 in 3 Surgery Patients Suffer Complications

    More than a third of surgical patients develop complications as a result of their procedure, a new study shows.

    About 38% of adult patients suffer an adverse event during or following their surgery, researchers reported Nov. 13 in the BMJ.

    Nearly half of these complications result in serious, life-threatening or ...

    When Is It OK to Undergo Routine Surgery After a Heart Attack?

    Seniors who’ve had a heart attack should probably delay any elective surgeries for three to six months, a new study advises.

    People aged 67 and older face double to triple the risk of life-threatening complications -- like a stroke or a second heart attack -- if they m...

    Study Suggests Earlier Is Better for Heart Valve Replacement Procedures

    In a finding that challenges conventional thinking on when people with failing heart valves but no symptoms should get surgery, a new study suggests these patients would fare far better if they had their valves replaced right away with a minimally invasive procedure.

    The results, published this week in the New England ...

    Most Patients Can Keep Using GLP-1 Weight Loss Meds Before Surgeries

    A new guidance issued jointly by groups representing U.S. surgeons, anesthesiologists and gastroenterologists affirms that most people taking popular GLP-1 weight-loss meds can keep taking them in the weeks before a surgery.

    Concerns had arisen because the drugs, which include semaglutide (Ozempic...

    MRI Might Spare Rectal Cancer Patients Surgery and Colostomy

    Some rectal cancer patients might be spared surgery and the lifelong need for a colostomy bag if they undergo MRI screening, a new study finds.

    The scans might accurately predict which patients have a higher odds for cancer recurrence and require surgery plus chemotherapy, and which can forgo surgery and opt for a "watch-and-wait" strategy instead.

    “After undergoing chemothera...

    Black Patients 22% More Likely to Die After Bypass Surgeries

    Heart bypass operations have gotten safer, but not everyone is benefiting equally: New data shows that Black patients face a 22% higher odds of dying in the hospital after their surgeries.

    “We found Black patients who have coronary artery bypass surgery experience higher rates of severe postoperative complications, including death and cardiac arrest," said study lead author

    Cataract Surgery Could Save Your Eyesight and Maybe Your Life

    Cataract surgery could restore good vision to older people and by doing so cut their odds for potentially life-threatening falls, a new study finds.

    Folks who got the surgery had significantly lower odds for bone fractures and brain hemorrhages linked to falling compared to people with cataracts who didn't get the operation, researchers report.

    The benefits were even greater than ex...

    Too Much Fasting in Hospital Could Have Downside for Orthopedic Surgery Patients

    The repeated fasting required for multiple surgeries in a row can slow a patient’s recovery and increase the risk of death, a new study warns.

    Surgical patients are asked to not eat after midnight prior to their procedure, to reduce the risk that they&r...

    Doctors More Likely to Order 'Opioids Only' for Black Patients After Surgery

    After Black patients undergo a surgery, they are much more likely than their white peers to receive only an opioid for post-op pain relief, rather than a more nuanced combo of analgesics, a new study finds.

    So-called "multimodal analgesia" is the recommended way to go, experts say, but Black patients are 29% less likely to receive it.

    “We know that multimodal analgesia provide...

    Music Might Speed Your Recovery From Surgery

    Pop tunes, smooth jams and banging beats can help people more easily recover from surgery with fewer painkillers, a new review finds.

    Listening to music reduces the anxiety, pain and heart rate of patients waking up from surgery, researchers found.

    As a result, surgical pati...

    When Complications Strike After Heart Surgery, Women More Likely to Die Than Men

    Women and men experience similar rates of dangerous complications after a major heart surgery.

    So why are women dying at higher rates than men when these complications strike?

    That's the main question raised by a new study that involved more than 850,000 cases of Medicare beneficiaries who underwent high-risk heart surgeries.

    These operations included heart bypass, aortic ane...

    Shorter Course of Breast Cancer Radiation Won't Affect Breast Reconstruction

    A shorter course of post-mastectomy radiation doesn't jeopardize a patient's chances of successful breast reconstruction, a new study finds.

    About 40 percent of people with breast cancer have mastectomies, followed by five to six weeks of radiation therapy to kill any can...

    Did Your ACL Surgery Work? Try Hopping Backwards

    Hopping backward is a good test to see if someone’s ACL surgery has gone well, a new study says.

    That backward hop is an effective way of measuring the strength of a patient’s knee function, as well as the strength of their quadriceps, researchers reported recently in the Journal of Sp...

    Long-Term Outcomes Good for Face Transplant Recipients, Study Finds

    There have been 50 face transplants performed in 11 countries since the surgery was pioneered back in 2005, and long-term outcomes have been favorable, a new review finds.

    In total, 85% of people receiving these complex surgeries survived five years and 74% were still alive a decade after transplant completion, researchers report.

    When the numbers focused on deaths linked to the tra...

    New Medical Technology Lights Up Bacteria Hiding in Wounds

    Fluorescent light can be used to highlight bacteria that hides in wounds, causing infections and slowing down the healing process, a new evidence review says.

    A handheld fluorescent device can light up bacteria in 9 out of 10 wounds that traditional clinical treatment would overlook, according to a study in the journal A...

    It's Safer to Donate a Kidney Now Than at Any Time in History

    The risk of death associated with donating a kidney is at an all-time low, a new study finds.

    A kidney donor’s risk -- already small a decade ago -- is now lower by more than half, researchers found.

    Fewer than one death occurs for every 10,000 kidney donations, according to res...

    Men Face Much Higher Risk for Hernias Than Women, and Age Matters

    At least 20 million hernia surgeries are performed globally each year, making it one of the most common medical procedures in the world. But does gender matter when it comes to hernia risk?

    New Australian research says yes: Half of the nearly 436,000 hernia repair procedures performed in adults in that country between 2017 and 2021 were for inguinal (groin) hernias, with men accounting fo...

    How Wildfire Smoke Could Be Harming Surgical Patients

    Wildfire smoke could interfere with the safety of surgeries, a new study warns.

    Inhaling the smoke could complicate the effects of anesthesia on surgical patients, and it also might hamper their recovery, researchers reported Aug. 6 in the journal Anesthesiology.

    “Wildfire smoke poses significant health risks, particularly in people with preexisting heart and lung dis...

    Surgery Overused for 'Tongue Tie' Issue That Stops Babies From Breastfeeding, Experts Say

    Surgery is being overused to correct breastfeeding difficulties in infants, a new report says.

    A growing number of newborns are being diagnosed with ankyloglossia, also called “tongue-tie.”

    Tongue-tie restricts the tongue’s range of motion in a baby. An unusually short or tight band of tissue holds the tip of their tongue close to the bottom of their mouth, making...

    COVID-19 Virus Is Widespread in U.S. Wildlife

    The virus responsible for COVID-19 is widespread among wildlife, a new study finds.

    SARS-CoV-2 was detected in six common backyard species, including deer mice, opossums, raccoons, groundhogs, cottontail rabbits and red bats, researchers reported July 29 in the journal

  • Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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  • July 29, 2024
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    • Double Mastectomy May Offer No Survival Benefit to Women With Breast Cancer

    Women who are diagnosed with breast cancer in one breast, even in the early stages, sometimes opt for a double mastectomy, due to the fear that the cancer will migrate to the other breast.

    But that decision may not offer any real benefit in terms of survival, an exhaustive new study of more than 600,000 patients tracked for two decades has found.

    Canadian researchers report that wh...

    Average Hip, Knee Replacement Patient May Be Getting Younger

    Brent Ruch, a collegiate basketball center, opted to have his left knee replaced at age 35 after struggling with pain for years.

    “Walking with a limp and living with a consistent aching pain was physically and emotionally difficult.  I didn’t want to live like that,” said Ruch, who lives in a suburb of Chicago.

    When his doctor told him he’d be pla...

    Some Youths Still Taking Opioids Months After Surgery

    Many tweens and teens are filling prescriptions for opioids far in advance of surgeries unlikely to be associated with severe pain afterward, a new study says.

    Worse, a significant minority continue to fill those opioid prescriptions three to six months after

  • Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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  • July 15, 2024
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    • Having Diabetes Raises Risk of Failure With Spinal Fusion Surgery

    Diabetes can make lumbar spinal fusion surgery much more likely to fail, a new study says.

    People with diabetes are nearly three times more likely to have their vertebrae fail to properly heal and fuse together, what surgeons call a non-union complication, according to results recently published in the journa...

    Just a Few Surgeries Make Up Most Post-Op Opioid Prescriptions

    Opioid addiction often starts with a prescription for post-surgery pain relief, and two new studies identify a handful of procedures that account for large shares of those prescriptions.

    The findings were published recently in two major medical journals.

    "Our findings suggest that surgical opioid prescribing is highly concentrated among a small group of procedures," said

  • Carole Tanzer Miller HealthDay Reporter
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  • July 3, 2024
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    • Women Less Likely to Get a 'Secondary Condition' Fixed During a Heart Surgery

    You're getting heart surgery, but your surgeon notices a new anomaly that perhaps could be fixed at the same time.

    That's more likely to happen if you're a man than a woman, new studies find.

    The findings came as little surprise to lead researcher Dr. Catherine Wagner, an integrated thoracic surgery re...

    Surgeons Perform a U.S. First: Kidney Transplant in Awake Patient

    John Nicolas was deep into kidney transplant surgery when he decided to ask his doctors if they'd started yet.

    "At one point during surgery, I recall asking, 'Should I be expecting the spinal anesthesia to kick in?'"Nicolas, 28, recalled in a news release. "They had already been doing a lot of work and I had been completely oblivious to that fact. Truly, no sensation whatsoever."

    Ni...

    Surgery Helps Young Kids With Cerebral Palsy Walk, Regardless of Age

    A surgery that helps 7- to 10-year-olds with cerebral palsy walk also helps older kids and teens with the condition, a groundbreaking study shows.

    "We had thought that the older kids would not do as well, but there was really no difference in outcomes between the two groups," said senior study author Dr. Robert Kay, director of th...

    Glowing Dye Helps Surgeons Track & Destroy Prostate Cancer

    British retiree David Butler was surprised to find that he had prostate cancer, and that it had spread to the lymph nodes and other places near the prostate.

    "I had literally no symptoms apart from needing to pee more quickly whenever I did go to the toilet,"Butler, 77, said in a ...

    Study Supports Safety of High-Dose General Anesthesia

    Older adults who avoid surgery because they fear general anesthesia will cause thinking declines need not worry, researchers report.

    A study of more than 1,000 patients who had heart surgery at four hospitals in Canada found that the amount of anesthesia used did not affect the risk of delirium after surgery. Post-surgery delirium may contribute to cognitive decline.

    How much anesth...

    It's Safe to Take GLP-1 Weight Loss Meds Before Surgery: Study

    Despite recent concerns that taking Ozempic, Wegovy or other GLP-1 medications might be unsafe before a surgery, a new review has uncovered no such danger.

    The issue arose because weight-loss drugs slow gastric emptying. The thought was that food might linger in the stomach so patients might be at higher risk of aspirating food particles and choking while under anesthesia.

    But a ne...

    Transplanted Pig Kidney Is Removed From Woman Who Received It

    A woman who was the second person to ever receive a kidney from a genetically modified pig has had the transplanted organ removed due to complications linked to a heart pump she is using, her doctors said.

    Lisa Pisano, 54, remains hospitalized and has been transferred back to kidney dialysis after having the transplanted organ removed.

    The organ, transplanted 47 days earlier, had n...

    Nerve Surgery May Help Some Battling Severe Migraine

    Nerve surgery can reduce the number of headache days for people who suffer frequent migraines, a new review finds.

    The procedure also can decrease the frequency and intensity of migraine attacks, according to results published in the June issue of the journal

    Doctors Used See-Through Plastic 'Window' to Monitor Injured Man's Brain

    California skateboarder Jared Hager has become the first person to receive a transparent skull replacement, which allows doctors to better view the function of his brain.

    The window has allowed doctors to both monitor his progress and test new and better scanning methods for assessing brain health.

    Hager, 39, of Downey, Calif., sustained a traumatic brain injury from a skateboarding...

    Doctors May Have Tried to Treat Cancer in Ancient Egypt

    A 4,000-year-old skull provides evidence that ancient Egyptians might have tried to treat cancer, a new study claims.

    Microscopic observation of the skull revealed 30 or so lesions scattered across its surface that are consistent with cancer, researchers report.

    T...

    Surgical Outcomes Better With More Women on Your Team

    Heading for surgery? The ratio of women to men in the operating room could influence your recovery, new research shows.

    Hospitals in Canada that had 35% or more surgeons and anesthesiologists who were female on staff tended to produce better outcomes for patients undergoing surgery, ...

    Cancer & COVID Drove Him to Double-Lung Transplant

    Chicago resident Arthur "Art"Gillespie fell ill in early March 2020 with COVID, after he and his father went to visit an uncle in a nursing facility.

    "I was hospitalized for 12 days with a high fever and cough, and during that time, they were taking scans of my lungs, which showed stage 1 lung cancer on my right lung,"Gillespie, 56, recalled in a news release. "I had no symptoms of lung c...

    The Pros & Cons of Robotic Knee Replacement Surgery

    Robot-assisted total knee replacements tend to have better outcomes on average, a new study reports.

    Unfortunately, there's a downside"having a surgical robot assist a human surgeon can make the procedure much more costly.

    Patients who had a robot-assisted knee replacement stayed i...

    Blood Test Might Predict Knee Osteoarthritis Years Early

    A blood test could help doctors spot the signs of knee osteoarthritis at least eight years before it shows up on X-rays, a new study claims.

    After analyzing the blood of 200 white British women, half diagnosed with knee osteoarthritis and half without, researchers discovered a small number of biomarkers distinguished the women with osteoarthritis from those without it.

    "We found we ...

    'Drug Take Back Day' is Saturday: Check for Leftover Opioids in Your Home

    Each year, thousands of Americans head home after a surgery clutching prescription opioids to help ease post-surgical pain.

    Trouble is, most won't use all those pills, and that could lead to a lot of misuse and addiction, one study found.

    And with National Prescription Drug Take Back Day slated for Saturday, it's time yet again to rais...

    Which Patients and Surgeries Are 'High Risk' for Seniors?

    Most seniors probably view any emergency surgery with a certain level of anxiety.

    Now, a new study seeks to sort out who might be at highest risk for a complication from such surgeries -- and which surgeries are more prone to trouble.

    Two key factors emerged: How frail any patient over 65 was prior to their emergency procedure, and whether the surgery was deemed to be high- or low...

    Patient Gets First-Ever Pig Kidney Transplant Plus Heart Pump

    New Jersey native Lisa Pisano was staring down the end of her days.

    The 54-year-old had heart failure and end-stage kidney disease, but several chronic medical conditions excluded her as a candidate for heart and kidney transplants.

    "All I want is the opportunity to have a better ...

    Blood Loss Drives Higher Death Rate for Women During Bypass Surgeries

    It's long been documented that women have a slimmer chance of surviving heart bypass surgery compared to men, and researchers believe that they now know why.

    Women tend to be more vulnerable to blood loss during surgery -- red blood cells, specifically -- than men are, concluded a team from Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City.

    They published their findings recently in the

    Arthritis Can Often Follow ACL Surgeries in Young Adults

    Early-onset arthritis may hit as many as one in every four young people who undergo anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction surgeries, new research warns.

    The arthritic pain emerges within 6 to 12 months post-surgery, according to Michigan State University (MSU) researchers.

    Many of these cases occur in people under 40 and go unrecognized and untreated.

    "We're trying...

    Scientists Get Closer to Realistic Replacement Human Ear

    Researchers say they are close to perfecting a bioengineered, 3D printed replacement human ear that looks, feels and resists injury like the real thing.

    Such an advance would greatly benefit people with congenitally malformed ears from birth, or those who have had an ear lost or damaged through injury, says a team at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City.

    Right now, "ear reconst...

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