Here are what the editors at HealthDay consider to be the most important developments in Surgery for September 2008. This roundup includes the latest research news from journal articles, as well as the FDA approvals and regulatory changes that are the most likely to affect clinical practice.
News Media Under-Report Drug Company Funding of Research
TUESDAY, Sept. 30 (HealthDay News) -- Reports on medication research published in general news media often fail to disclose that the research received pharmaceutical company funding and frequently refer to drugs by brand name rather than using the generic name, according to an article published in the Oct. 1 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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Catheter-Free Prostate Treatment Safe and Effective
MONDAY, Sept. 29 (HealthDay News) -- The catheter-free lithium triborate laser photoselective vaporization prostatectomy (PVP) is both safe and effective for the treatment of lower urinary tract symptoms secondary to benign prostatic hyperplasia, according to a report in the October issue of Lasers in Surgery and Medicine.
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Opioid Dependence Linked to Poorer Post-Rehab Outcomes
MONDAY, Sept. 29 (HealthDay News) -- Prescription opioid dependence was found to be relatively common in patients with chronic disabling occupational spinal disorders beginning a functional rehabilitation program, according to research published in the Sept. 15 issue of Spine.
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Publication Bias Seen in Published Drug Trials
MONDAY, Sept. 29 (HealthDay News) -- Trials supporting the applications for a variety of new drugs appear to be affected by publication bias, which may lead to an inappropriately favorable representation of the drug in the medical literature, according to research published in the September issue of PLoS Medicine.
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Gastric Bypass May Be Associated with Bone Loss
MONDAY, Sept. 29 (HealthDay News) -- Patients undergoing Roux-en-Y gastric bypass may be at risk of subsequent bone loss, according to research published in the October issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
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Minimally Invasive Procedures Changing Spinal Surgery
FRIDAY, Sept. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Minimally invasive surgery of the spine is an emerging neurosurgical field with multifaceted uses, according to a report in the August issue of Neurosurgical Focus.
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Platelet Reactivity Levels May Predict Coronary Risk
FRIDAY, Sept. 26 (HealthDay News) -- High residual platelet reactivity after clopidogrel administration prior to percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is associated with higher incidence of 30-day major adverse cardiac events, according to a report published in the Sept. 30 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
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Photodynamic Therapy Opens Blood-Brain Barrier
FRIDAY, Sept. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Photodynamic therapy using 5-aminolevulinic acid is highly effective in disrupting the blood-brain barrier, according to the results of a study in rats, published in the October issue of Lasers in Surgery and Medicine.
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No Easy Answer to How Much Should Be Spent on Health Care
FRIDAY, Sept. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Although capping health care expenditure as a fixed proportion of gross domestic product (GDP) may control costs, it is not necessarily the best way to reflect the priority that a society places on health, according to two Head to Head articles published online Sept. 25 in BMJ.
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Post-Surgical Risks Analyzed in Aortic Dissection
THURSDAY, Sept. 25 (HealthDay News) -- In patients with acute type B aortic dissection, a large maximal false lumen area and a higher branch-vessel involvement greatly increase the risk of in-hospital post-surgical complications, according to research published in the Sept. 30 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
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Drug-Eluting Stents May Cut Mortality After Heart Attack
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Two years after undergoing stenting for acute myocardial infarction, patients who received drug-eluting stents have significantly lower rates of death and repeat revascularization than those who received bare-metal stents, researchers report in the Sept. 25 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Bisphosphonate Infusion Linked to Ocular Complication
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Physicians should be aware that bisphosphonate infusions can result in a serious but rare complication: orbital inflammatory disease, according to a case study published in the Sept. 25 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Asymmetric Loading Linked to Disc Degeneration
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Whereas healthy discs have mostly uniform coronal disc pressure profiles regardless of spinal alignment, degenerated discs have asymmetric disc pressure profiles, especially in the presence of spinal malalignment, according to study findings published in the Sept. 15 issue of Spine.
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Racial Discrepancies Exist for Asymptomatic Colon Polyps
TUESDAY, Sept. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Black patients undergoing colonoscopy reveal a higher prevalence of polyps compared to white individuals, according to data reported in the Sept. 24 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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Post-Operative Delirium Increases with Statin Use
TUESDAY, Sept. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Post-operative delirium is significantly more common among patients using statins compared to patients using other cardiac and non-cardiac medications, according to a report in the Sept. 23 issue of CMAJ, the journal of the Canadian Medical Association.
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No Change to 2009 Part B Medicare Premium
MONDAY, Sept. 22 (HealthDay News) -- There will be no change to the Part B Standard Medicare premium in 2009 compared with 2008. This is the first time since 2000 that the premium has not risen over the prior year, according to an announcement by the Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
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Radiosurgery May Benefit Patients with Spinal Tumors
MONDAY, Sept. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Radiosurgery for spinal and paraspinal metastases is a relatively new treatment that provides a minimally invasive option for pain relief and tumor control, according to a review in the August issue of Neurosurgical Focus.
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Needle Core Biopsies of Renal Masses Are Accurate, Safe
MONDAY, Sept. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Needle core biopsies are safe and correctly identify benign versus malignant renal tumors in small, asymptomatic renal lesions, according to a report in the October issue of the Journal of Urology.
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Stomach Treatment Reduces Ghrelin, Limits Weight in Pigs
MONDAY, Sept. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Embolization of gastric arteries in swine resulted in lower levels of ghrelin -- a hormone that can stimulate food intake -- and less weight gain in following weeks compared to control animals, according to research published in the October issue of Radiology.
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Physician's Office Hours Affect Time to Stroke Treatment
FRIDAY, Sept. 19 (HealthDay News) -- People who experience a transient ischemic attack or a minor stroke outside their primary physician's office hours wait longer before seeking treatment than those who have a stroke during general practice opening hours, according to a report published online Sept. 18 in BMJ.
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Antibiotic Resistance Has Become a Global Pandemic
FRIDAY, Sept. 19 (HealthDay News) -- A concerted international and national response, behavior change by consumers and providers, and the development of antibacterial agents are all urgently needed to tackle the global problem of rapidly increasing antibiotic resistance, according to an article published online Sept. 18 in BMJ.
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Limited Research Supports Non-Cancer Pain Surgeries
THURSDAY, Sept. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Although the field of neurosurgery has long offered destructive surgical procedures for pain treatment, evidence supporting the efficacy of such procedures in non-malignant settings is limited, according to research published in the September issue of the Journal of Neurosurgery.
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Ambulatory Surgery Center Development Is a Complex Task
THURSDAY, Sept. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Profit, flexibility and attractiveness to both surgeons and patients are the keys to a well-designed ambulatory surgery center, according to an article published in the September issue of AORN Journal.
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CT Colonography Sensitive for Large Adenomas
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 17 (HealthDay News) -- Computed tomographic (CT) colonography is a sensitive method for detecting large adenomas and cancers in asymptomatic adults, while individuals negative for adenomas are at low risk of developing cancers five years later, according to two studies published in the Sept. 18 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Abstract - Johnson
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Assessment Tool Helps Predict Head and Neck Cancer Survival
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 17 (HealthDay News) -- In the first year after a head and neck cancer diagnosis, the trend for the subjective physical component of the 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey score is predictive of long-term cancer survival, according to a report in the September issue of the Archives of Otolaryngology -- Head & Neck Surgery.
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Brain Natriuretic Peptide Predicts Valvular Disease Outcome
TUESDAY, Sept. 16 (HealthDay News) -- Both the calculated logistic EuroSCORE (logES) and an elevated brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) predict mortality in patients with symptomatic aortic stenosis, researchers report in the September issue of the American Journal of Cardiology.
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Shorter Work Week Cuts Bile Duct Surgery Errors
TUESDAY, Sept. 16 (HealthDay News) -- The rate of complications and bile duct injuries during bile duct surgery dropped once an 80-hour working week limit for residents was introduced, according to a report published in the September issue of the Archives of Surgery.
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Diabetes and Pouch Size Affect Efficacy of Gastric Bypass
MONDAY, Sept. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Although gastric bypass surgery patients are usually successful in losing weight, those with diabetes or a larger pouch size are more likely than other patients to have disappointing weight loss after surgery, according to a report published in the September issue of the Archives of Surgery.
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Brain Stimulation May Help in Dystonia, Torticollis
MONDAY, Sept. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Deep brain stimulation may be beneficial for patients with secondary dystonia and primary torticollis, according to research published in the September issue of the Journal of Neurosurgery.
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Drug Activates Protective Cardiac Enzyme in Rats
MONDAY, Sept. 15 (HealthDay News) -- A small molecule can activate a cardioprotective enzyme in rats and reduce infarct size after cardiac ischemia, which could be useful during coronary bypass surgery, according to research published in the Sept. 12 issue of Science.
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No Effect of Analgesic on Spinal Fusion After Surgery
FRIDAY, Sept. 12 (HealthDay News) -- The use of the analgesic ketorolac (Toradol) does not affect fusion rates after spinal fusion surgery, researchers report in the Sept. 1 issue of Spine.
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Hysterectomy Incidence Declines in California
FRIDAY, Sept. 12 (HealthDay News) -- Since 1991, the incidence of hysterectomy for benign gynecologic conditions has dramatically declined in California, according to a report published in the September issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
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Living Donor Transplantation Feasible for Acute Liver Failure
FRIDAY, Sept. 12 (HealthDay News) -- In selected patients with acute liver failure, living donor liver transplantation may be a safe treatment option, according to the results of a small study published in the September issue of Liver Transplantation.
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Knee Surgery Does Not Improve Arthritis Outcomes
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 10 (HealthDay News) -- Arthroscopic surgery does not improve outcomes in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee, and meniscal damage in the knee is not necessarily correlated with arthritis or joint problems, according to two studies published in the Sept. 11 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Abstract - Kirkley
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Abstract - Englund
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