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Surgery

News, opinions and meeting coverage in surgery.

Angiography Okay for Kidney Patients

Using coronary angiography to test whether a patient's heart is fit enough to undergo kidney transplant is not as dangerous as once thought, researchers found.

AUA: Sex and Alcohol May be Recipe for a UTI

CHICAGO -- Sex and alcohol often figure prominently in a young woman's first urinary tract infection, according to a study of college coeds.

Eating Can Be Risky Business for COPD Patients

PITTSBURGH -- Poor coordination between swallowing and breathing in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease may increase risk of aspiration pneumonia and exacerbations, researchers warned.

Domestic Violence Signaled by Types of Facial Injuries

PHILADELPHIA -- The pattern of facial trauma may help identify women abused by a spouse or significant other, researchers said.

HIV-Positive Surgeon Allowed Back into OR

TEL AVIV -- An HIV-infected cardiothoracic surgeon here has been cleared to resume operating without restrictions after a 10-year lookback investigation found no spread of the disease to patients, reported Israeli and CDC investigators.

Herniated Disc Surgery Found Cost-Effective

HANOVER, N.H. -- For patients with a herniated disc, surgery proved a cost-effective alternative to nonsurgical treatment over the course of two years, an observational study found.

Smoking May Increase Bleeding Risk After Type of Tonsillectomy

TACOMA, Wash. -- Post-tonsillectomy smoking nearly doubles the risk of hemorrhage, but it appears limited to patients who have uvulopalatopharyngoplasty, investigators here reported.

Newly Revealed ACL Injury Ends 2008 Season for Tiger Woods

ORLANDO -- Tiger Woods, the world's best golfer, announced today that reconstructive surgery for an anterior cruciate ligament rupture in his left knee will force him off the course for at least the rest of the year.

Head Positional Maneuvers Endorsed for Benign Vertigo

PHOENIX, Ariz., -- Almost like wet dogs shaking their heads, patients with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo are resolving dizziness by a series of directed movements to remove loose calcium crystals from semicircular canals in the ear.

MRSA Implicated in Majority of Post-Facelift Infections

NEW YORK -- Although surgical-site infections after face-lift procedures are uncommon, those that occur are usually caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, making them difficult to treat.

If the Hairball Is a Human's, the Danger is Great

CHICAGO -- When Rush University physicians operated to remove an abdominal mass from an 18-year-old woman, no one expected to find a 4.5-kilogram trichobezoar, a rare condition, but one that can be fatal.

Erectile Drugs May Promote Pleasure as Well as Performance

MADISON, Wis. -- Viagra and other erectile dysfunction drugs may augment sexual pleasure over and above the primary indication of the drugs, investigators here suggested.

Steroids Not Gold Standard for Sudden Hearing Loss

LONDON, Ontario, June 18 -- Although sudden sensorineural hearing loss is typically treated with systemic steroids, little evidence exists to support this or any other treatment, researchers said.

ASCO: Imatinib (Gleevec) After GIST Surgery Achieves Big Survival Advantage

CHICAGO -- Imatinib (Gleevec) after curative surgery for gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) achieved a 90% two-year recurrence-free survival, investigators reported here.

Contact Lens Solution Recalled Over Link With Acanthamoeba Keratitis

ROCKVILLE, Md., May 29 -- A possible parasitic contamination of a solution for soft contact lens wearers has triggered a national recall.

Ulnar Fovea Test Unlocks Tricky Wrist Pain Diagnosis

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- A simple test of ulnar fovea tenderness that led to discovery of a common type of ligament injury may ease the diagnosis of unexplained wrist pain, researchers found.

Promising Outcomes in Spinal Disc Cadaver Allografts

HONG KONG -- Replacement of degenerative discs in the cervical spine with cadaver allografts shows early promise as an alternative to fusion or artificial discs, found researchers here.

Some Bariatric Surgery Patients Develop Wernicke's Encephalopathy

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- For a few patients undergoing, weight-loss surgery, a thiamine deficiency may cause memory loss and other neurologic problems, easily correctable when recognized.

After Meniscectomy, Thigh Muscle Weakness Impairs Knee Function

MALM脙鈥�, Sweden -- Four years after surgery to repair a non-traumatic meniscus tear, loss of muscle strength in the quadriceps left patients with a painful, unstable knee prone to future osteoarthritis, researchers here reported.

ASPS: Obese Women Have More Breast Reconstruction Complications

SAN FRANCISCO -- Breast reconstruction surgery in extremely obese women is associated with a high rate of complications, reported researchers here.

A Raw Egg in the Eye Is No Joke

LIVERPOOL, England -- Throwing a raw egg is a prank gone bad all too often, warned emergency physicians here who cited blunt ocular trauma.

Most Patients are Happy with Liposuction, Despite Fat Return

DALLAS 芒鈧€� Four in five patients who underwent liposuction for body sculpting reported being satisfied with the procedure, and 86% said they would recommend the procedure to others, according to results of a patient satisfaction survey.

When Viagra Doesn't Work, Lipitor May Assist

PHILADELPHIA - If Viagra (sildenafil) doesn't do the job, maybe all it needs is a kick start with Lipitor (atorvastatin), a small study here suggested.

FDA Warns About Risks of Throat-Numbing Spray

ROCKVILLE, Md. - The Veterans Health Administration has halted the use of benzocaine sprays to numb mucous membranes in the mouth and throat, prompting the FDA to reissue warnings about the risk of methemoglobinemia.

Corticosteroids Helps Some ICU Patients Off Ventilators Faster

TAPEI, Taiwan - ICU patients with adrenal insufficiency who are on mechanical ventilation are more likely to be successfully weaned off the machine if they first receive hydrocortisone infusions, researchers here have found.

Face Transplant Recipient's Habit Could Jeopardize Recovery

TUCSON, Ariz. - The French woman who became the world's first face-transplant recipient is able to go out in public again without attracting attention, and is said to be doing well. But her recovery could be jeopardized by her renewed cigarette smoking, her doctors warned.

Safety of Delaying Inguinal Hernia Surgery Confirmed

CHICAGO - When inguinal hernia causes minimal pain, surgeons can look elsewhere for work. That's the message that emerged from a randomized trial here.

Short-Term Use of High-Dose Ibuprofen Linked to GI Bleeding

HAMILTON, Ontario - Taking high doses of Advil or Motrin (ibuprofen) even for a few days can significantly increase the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding, researchers reported today.

Recurrent Yeast Infections Associated with Chronic Stress

STOCKHOLM - Women with recurrent yeast infections appear to have lower-than-normal morning levels of salivary cortisol, a sign of stress that could indicate an increased vulnerability to candida, according to a pilot study.

So You've Got Tennis Elbow?

NEW YORK-Few conditions have more ostensible cures than tennis elbow. When 番茄社区 published a Special Report during the U.S. Open here on evidence-based cures for tennis elbow, many of our readers shared their own approaches. Here is a sampling (edited for space). Caveat emptor.

Husband's Death After Watching Wife's Epidural Leads to Litigation

LOS ANGELES-Just because an expectant father fainted and died of head injuries after watching his wife have an epidural doesn't mean the procedure itself is particularly dangerous.

Certain Exercise Proposed to Reduce Hip Fracture Risk in Elderly

CAMBRIDGE, England-If hip fractures in the elderly are caused by thinning of the femur that leads to bone buckling in a fall, as a team here contends, cycling, rowing or gymnastics might strengthen the femoral neck and reduce the fracture risk.

Small Trampolines Are Injury Risk to Small Children

COLUMBUS, Ohio-Children are as likely to get injured using recreational mini-trampolines are they are with full-sized trampolines, a study has found. This was particularly so for kids under six.

ATS: Laughter No Joke To Asthma Patients

SAN DIEGO-More than half of asthma patients are likely to have laughter-induced asthma attacks, especially if their disease is not well controlled.

Feeding By Tube Is Common with Tracheotomy

CLEVELAND-Patients who require a tracheotomy to help them breathe often have trouble swallowing, which cuts their caloric intake. The solution, say experts, is to supplement regular meals with feeding by a nasogastric tube, which is what doctors treating Pope John Paul II have decided to do.

Feeding Tube Replacement Is Fast and Simple

LOUISVILLE-If a federal appeals court in Atlanta orders Terri Schiavo's feeding tube to be replaced, the procedure can be done in less than a minute, says an expert in percutaneous enteral nutrition.