http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. (HealthDay)—Some research has suggested that the omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil can help prevent an irregular heart beat called atrial fibrillation. However, a new study finds these supplements have little effect on the condition once it develops. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-fish-oil-supplements-wont-irregular.html Cardiology Fri, 21 Dec 2012 08:40:01 EST news275290717 As the nation grapples with surging health care costs, researchers at the University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, and Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center, Hartford, have confirmed two simple cost-effective methods to reduce expensive postoperative complications—communications team training and a surgical checklist. Investigators found that when surgical teams completed communications training and a surgical procedure checklist before, during, and after high-risk operations, patients experienced fewer adverse events such as infections and blood clots. The study is published in the December issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-surgical-checklist-costly-postoperative-complications.html Surgery Wed, 05 Dec 2012 14:15:04 EST news273939291 A new study suggests that extending nightly sleep in mildly sleepy, healthy adults increases daytime alertness and reduces pain sensitivity. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-pain-sensitivity.html Health Sat, 01 Dec 2012 06:10:57 EST news273564637 (HealthDay)—Re-excision of mildly or moderately histologically dysplastic nevi (HDN) that approach a microscopic border may not be necessary, as favorable long-term outcomes are achieved without re-excision, according to a study published online Nov. 5 in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-moderately-dysplastic-nevi-re-excision.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 12 Nov 2012 16:36:28 EST news271960582 The suffering caused by the loss of a nose must be indescribable. In terms of function, a sense of smell is perhaps less important than the ability to see, hear and eat - and we can breathe through our mouth or nasal cavity. But somehow, a missing nose elicits a more profound sense of shock in other people than the sight of an eye patch. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-3d-nose.html Other Thu, 08 Nov 2012 06:50:01 EST news271578304 More and more outpatient surgical procedures are being done at nonhospital-based facilities such as freestanding ambulatory surgical centers and physician offices, instead of at hospital-based outpatient departments. A new study comparing the cost to Medicare of 22 urological surgical procedures performed in each setting has found that ambulatory surgery centers and physician offices are less costly than hospitals. The results are published in the December issue of The Journal of Urology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-outpatient-urological-surgery-significantly-physician.html Surgery Mon, 22 Oct 2012 03:23:57 EST news270095028 There has been an increase in total knee arthroplasty (TKA; knee replacement) procedures over the past 20 years that has been driven by both an increase in the number of Medicare enrollees and increase in per capita utilization, according to a study in the September 26 issue of JAMA. There has also been a decrease in hospital length of stay for TKA, but increased hospital readmission rates and increased rates of infectious complications. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-usage-outcomes-knee-procedures-medicare.html Surgery Tue, 25 Sep 2012 16:00:01 EST news267807463 Tests to screen for "silent" neck artery narrowing in a bid to curb the risk of a stroke result in many unnecessary and costly surgical procedures, and ultimately save very few lives, concludes an editorial in the Journal of NeuroInterventional Surgery. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-silent-neck-artery-narrowing-curb.html Surgery Wed, 05 Sep 2012 18:30:21 EST news266064087 An Australian court Friday quashed an Indian-born surgeon's manslaughter convictions over the deaths of three patients, saying there had been a miscarriage of justice in his trial. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-australian-court-quashes-indian-surgeon.html Other Fri, 24 Aug 2012 01:20:01 EST news264987737 (HealthDay) -- Following the manufacturer's recommendations is inadequate for cleaning suction tips, with residual debris identified after cleaning, according to a study published in the August issue of the AORN Journal. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-ineffective-suction.html Other Thu, 02 Aug 2012 04:50:01 EST news263101183 A new type of heart valve surgery known as transcatheter aortic valve implantation "cannot be justified on medical or cost effectiveness grounds" warn experts in a paper published in BMJ today. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-minimally-invasive-heart-valve-surgery.html Cardiology Tue, 31 Jul 2012 18:30:01 EST news262968994 Total hip replacement (THR) and total knee replacement (TKR) surgeries were associated with increased risk of acute myocardial infarction (AMI, heart attack) in the first two weeks after the surgical procedures, according to report published Online First by Archives of Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-heart-total-hip-knee-surgeries.html Cardiology Mon, 23 Jul 2012 16:00:05 EST news262267678 Surgeons from the Instituto de Patologia da Coluna in Sao Paulo, Brazil have found that an innovative minimally invasive surgical procedure performed to achieve two-level axial lumbar interbody fusion produced immediate successful results, but within 2 years complications set in, making the procedure far less desirable. Findings of this study are reported in the article "Results and complications after 2-level axial lumbar interbody fusion with a minimum 2-year follow-up. Clinical article," by Luis Marchi, Leonardo Oliveira, Etevaldo Coutinho, M.D., and Luiz Pimenta, M.D., Ph.D., published this week online in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-complications-two-level-axial-lumbar-interbody.html Surgery Fri, 20 Jul 2012 10:02:30 EST news261997287 Advances in diagnostic imaging have benefited children with otolaryngologic disease, allowing shorter hospital stays, fewer invasive procedures, more targeted surgical procedures, and earlier and more precise diagnoses. However, despite improved technology, concerns about exposure of children to ionizing radiation have recently come to the forefront, according to a commentary in the July 2012 issue of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-safer-radiologic-imaging-otolaryngologic-disease.html Surgery Mon, 02 Jul 2012 11:07:00 EST news260446012 Obese patients who need to have their appendixes removed fare better after a minimally invasive surgical procedure rather than an open operation, according to a new study published in the July issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-obese-appendectomy-patients-complications-minimally.html Surgery Wed, 27 Jun 2012 01:00:01 EST news259948283 Researchers from Boston University Schools of Medicine and Public Health (BUSM, BUSPH), along with the VA Boston Healthcare System and Harvard Medical School, have found inpatient medical procedures increased more among non-elderly, lower- and medium- income populations, Hispanics and whites, after health care reform went into effect in Massachusetts. The findings, which currently appear in Medical Care, suggest improved access to outpatient care for vulnerable subpopulations since health care reform took effect. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-massachusetts-health-reform-inpatient-surgical.html Health Wed, 13 Jun 2012 10:48:42 EST news258803314 (HealthDay) -- Circulating perioperative nurses can help reduce surgical errors and incidents in the cardiovascular operating room (OR) and improve patient safety, especially with regard to surgical prepping and aseptic technique, according to research published in the June issue of the AORN Journal. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-circulating-nurses-recover-errors-cardiovascular.html Cardiology Tue, 05 Jun 2012 13:50:01 EST news258120415 The best doctors strive to relieve their patients' burdens. A physician in Houston asked Rice University students to help him do so in the most literal way. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-rice-students-weighty-problem-doctors.html Medical research Wed, 09 May 2012 11:35:28 EST news255782106 (HealthDay) -- The number of miscommunications that occur during surgery is inversely associated with the length of time a team has worked together, and positively associated with the number of interruptions during surgery, according to a study published in the May issue of the AORN Journal. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-perioperative-miscommunication.html Surgery Thu, 03 May 2012 15:00:10 EST news255274651 There is a disconnect between the number of cancer patients estimated to have bone metastases and the number of patients who are sent for orthopedic care each year, states an article in the Canadian Journal of Surgery (CJS). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-cancer-patients-under-referred-orthopedic-oncology.html Surgery Mon, 02 Apr 2012 11:02:36 EST news252583350 (HealthDay) -- Aesthetic facial plastic surgery results in a reduction in perceived age, with the effect more substantial for those who undergo multiple procedures, according to a study published online Feb. 20 in the Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-plastic-surgery-younger-aging.html Surgery Tue, 21 Feb 2012 19:40:02 EST news249069994 New guidelines from the Healthcare Infection Society (HIS) aimed at minimising surgical infection in day centres and primary care are now published in the Journal of Hospital Infection. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-guidelines-infection-minor-surgery.html Other Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:08:34 EST news247144092 Patients who discontinued use of an antiplatelet agent such as clopidogrel prior to undergoing cardiac surgery to lower their bleeding risk and received intravenously the platelet inhibitor cangrelor achieved a higher rate of maintenance of platelet inhibition, compared to patients who received placebo, according to a study in the January 18 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-drug-platelet-inhibition-anti-clotting-prior.html Surgery Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:27:33 EST news246040043 Doctors at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre today performed a minimally invasive surgical procedure to treat high blood pressure, called renal denervation, for the first time in Canada. The procedure can significantly reduce high blood pressure in patients who cannot effectively treat their hypertension through drugs. These patients, numbering approximately 250,000 Canadians, have to endure an especially high risk of heart attacks and stroke, which continues to kill thousands of Canadians every year. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-canada-renal-denervation-procedure-high.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:17:36 EST news246032221 When a group of women from Uganda embarked on a trip of a lifetime to India, little did many of their friends and families at home know that a secret surgical "mommy makeover" was on their itinerary. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-foreigners-india-mommy-makeover-surgery.html Other Sun, 15 Jan 2012 01:49:37 EST news245814566 Brain aneurysms are balloon-like out-pouchings that can develop off of brain arteries. Like balloons, these out-pouchings can burst causing a devastating type of stroke as blood leaks in and around the brain. Many years ago brain aneurysms could only be treated with a major, invasive surgical procedure that involved opening the skull and working around the folds of the brain to place a metal clip across the base of the aneurysm. This procedure usually took several hours, required a hospital stay of about a week and often left patients out of work for several weeks. In recent years, minimally invasive brain aneurysm treatment called aneurysm coil embolization or aneurysm coiling has become increasingly popular. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-medical-minute-pipes-brain-treatment.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 09 Dec 2011 07:09:50 EST news242636979 Surgical procedures save and improve lives worldwide, but the figures on serious complications and deaths are high. Ph.D. student Sindre Hoyland sees ways of reducing these numbers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-safer-surgery.html Other Wed, 23 Nov 2011 11:06:31 EST news241268782 Body Mass Index (BMI) appears to be associated with 30-day mortality risk following surgical procedures, and patients with a BMI of less than 23.1 appear to be at highest risk of death, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Surgery. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-body-mass-index-short-term-mortality.html Other Mon, 21 Nov 2011 16:00:14 EST news241102813 Training basic surgical techniques on toy animals before having to perform operations on living animals makes veterinary students much less anxious. At the same time, the use of laboratory animals is minimised. This is documented by a new PhD thesis from LIFE - the Faculty of Life Sciences at the University of Copenhagen. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-surgery-toy-animals-lessens-anxiety.html Other Tue, 15 Nov 2011 10:25:19 EST news240575105 A new study in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS) found that patients with herniated lumbar disc symptoms were significantly worse if the patients had symptoms for more than six months prior to treatment, compared to those who had symptoms for six months or less. Symptoms included pain, function, general health, work status and patient satisfaction. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-surgical-treatment-months-lumbar-disc.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 25 Oct 2011 13:30:48 EST news238768237