Tag: surgery

About a third of epilepsy sufferers require treatment through surgery. To check for severe epilepsy, clinicians use a surgical procedure called electrocorticography (ECoG). An ECoG maps a section of brain tissue to help clinicians identify areas damaged by seizures. “But ECoG requires taking a part of your skull out and putting electrodes directly on brain

In the maze of our brains, there are various pathways by which neural signals travel. These pathways can go awry in patients with neurological and psychiatric diseases and disorders, such as epilepsy, Parkinson’s, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Researchers have developed new therapeutic strategies to more precisely target neural pathways involved in these conditions, but they often

High risk, frail heart patients might derive benefits from “prehabilitation,” a strategy designed to enhance the recovery process after heart surgery by maintaining or improving the patient’s overall physical and mental status before surgery, according to a group of eminent cardiac specialists writing in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology. The authors reviewed the current evidence

The first comprehensive study comparing the outcomes of robotic surgery to those of traditional open surgery in any organ has found that the surgeries are equally effective in treating bladder cancer. The seven-year study, conducted at 15 institutions, including Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, and directed by Dipen J. Parekh, M.D., chair of urology and director

Scientists have developed an algorithm that predicts potentially dangerous low blood pressure, or hypotension, that can occur during surgery. The algorithm identifies hypotension 15 minutes before it occurs in 84 percent of cases, the researchers report in a new study published in the Online First edition of Anesthesiology, the peer-reviewed medical journal of the American

A drug that reduces delirium in postoperative patients may work by preventing the overactivity of certain receptors in brain cells, according to a new study published in the Online First edition of Anesthesiology, the peer-reviewed medical journal of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA). The researchers say the findings could lead to more widespread use

The targeted drug sunitinib (Sutent) is as effective alone as when it’s combined with surgery for some people with advanced kidney cancer, according to a clinical trial. This means some people whose kidney cancer has spread could in future avoid having surgery to remove the affected organ. Average survival times were as good in patients

Laser guided 3D printed hip surgery? It gets my vote! MP Nadine Dorries on the moment she ‘cried with relief’ after undergoing pioneering procedure that cured her of agonising pain Mid Bedfordshire Nadine Dorries suffered agonising pain from arthritis in her hip She declined a hip replacement despite being encouraged to do so by doctors  MP

In a BJS (British Journal of Surgery) analysis of 18,730 older patients with oestrogen receptor- positive breast cancer in the UK, the risk of dying from breast cancer was greater in patients treated with primary endocrine therapy than in those who received surgery. For the study, researchers analysed cancer registration data from two English regions

Researchers from Columbia University have developed a new technique for the powerful gene editing tool CRISPR to restore retinal function in mice afflicted by a degenerative retinal disease, retinitis pigmentosa. This is the first time researchers have successfully applied CRISPR technology to a type of inherited disease known as a dominant disorder. This same tool

Vertebroplasty (surgery to repair spinal fractures) is no more effective for pain relief than a sham (placebo) procedure in older patients with osteoporosis, finds a trial published by The BMJ today. The researchers say their results “do not support vertebroplasty as standard pain treatment in patients with osteoporotic vertebral fractures.” Osteoporosis is a disease in

Researchers from Hebrew SeniorLife’s Institute for Aging Research and Brown University have conducted the first study to examine outcomes in nursing home residents with advanced dementia and hip fracture. They discovered that advanced dementia residents have a lower mortality rate after 6 months, if they undergo surgical repair. Those advanced dementia patients managed with surgery

Improved care for patients undergoing cancer surgery is the focus of a pioneering worldwide study. Doctors say the initiative—funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) – will enable them to gauge surgery quality across the globe and highlight ways to improve patient care. Some 16 million people worldwide will be diagnosed with cancer

In a multicenter database study of adults who had undergone surgery for spinal deformities, researchers say that those who had used narcotics daily on average had worse outcomes, such as longer intensive care unit stays and more severe postop disability, compared with those who did not use opioids preoperatively. A report of the findings published