SCAI expert panel sets high standards for PCI without on-site cardiac surgical backup
... programs, using stenting and other catheter-based procedures to treat patients with narrowed coronary arteries. Survey data collected by SCAI show that elective PCI without on-site cardiac surgery is increasingly common. In fact, it is performed in 28 states in the United States and in many other developed cou...Oral wounds heal slower in women, older adults, study finds
...ces. "There are an increasing number of surgical procedures being performed in older populations," Marucha said. "A greater emphasis needs to be placed on accelerating the healing process. Discovering the reasons behind these age and sex differences will help us improve treatment, and postsurgical recovery ti...Esophageal cancer rates climb with obesity; U-M study finds esophagectomy safe in obese patients
...h year and have completed more than 2,000 of these procedures in total. Because the procedure in obese patients is more demanding on surgeons, the results may not be the same in hospitals that see relatively few patients in need of an esophagectomy. "Profoundly obese patients undergoing a THE at a high-volume...Annual study finds top hospitals have 28 percent lower mortality rate
...n terms of mortality and complication rates for 26 procedures and diagnoses, from bypass surgery to stroke. Hosp...Hospitals for Clinical Excellence in the following procedures and diagnoses: cardiac surgery, angioplasty and stent, heart attack, heart failure, atrial fibrillat...Dental researchers test no-needle anesthesia, no-drilling cavity care
... of dental injections when dentists are performing procedures on the upper arch." The second study, set to beg...spray study is testing the effectiveness in dental procedures of a topical anesthetic normally used by ear, nose and throat physicians when they operate on the no...Research ethics committees in Africa report inadequate funding, staffing and training
...two committees reported that no standard operating procedures existed. Two of the research ethics committees surveyed thought it was difficult to offer a truly independent assessment of proposed research knowing that greater funding for their own institutions was at stake. Reported challenges includ...Less experienced surgeons performing new techniques in coronary surgery on black patients
...se mostly from surgeons who perform fewer off-pump procedures rather than surgeons who perform many off-pump sur...data show that surgeons who perform fewer off-pump procedures are more likely to perform this new procedure on black patients, who may be less knowledgeable about...Physicians need to be advocates for prisoners' health
...ians to campaign for sentencing laws, policies and procedures that directly affect the health and well-being of their patients and to encourage more humane and effective treatment alternatives for addiction and mental illness....Better review of new technology is needed to reduce health costs
...ure the benefits and risks of new technologies and procedures in order to avoid misallocation of health-care dol...ure the benefits and risks of new technologies and procedures in order to avoid misallocation of health care dollars. In a newly published feature paper, Rita Re...Should smokers be refused surgery?
...g non-smokers over smokers for a limited number of procedures will therefore deliver greater clinical benefit to individuals and the community. He believes that, as long as everything is done to help patients to stop smoking, it is both responsible and ethical to implement a policy that those unwilling or una...Medication does not appear to offer benefit for certain heart attack patients undergoing PCI
...cutaneous transluminal coronary intervention (PCI; procedures such as balloon angioplasty or stent placement used to open narrowed coronary arteries) is highly effective at improving outcomes in patients with acute STEMI, especially if delivered promptly in an expert facility. However, in patients without promp...It's OK for men with high blood pressure to have a drink or two, new study finds
...ogy studies. Because of the current limitations of procedures and reference instruments, the editorial writers say, "we cannot assume that corrected estimates of diet-disease associations in any single study are definitive." ...Study compares LASIK and LASEK eye surgery
...erative pain and faster recovery than PRK. "Both procedures seem safe, effective and predictable for the treatment of low to moderate myopia (near-sightedness)," Azar said....Physicians enlisted in efforts to keep demented drivers off the road
... participants are shown sample reporting forms and procedures for filling them out. "The reporting process is anonymous," Meuser says. "And the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which places strict regulations on patient privacy, should not apply to this, because HIPAA allow...Snake-like robot and steady-hand system could assist surgeons
...aims to transform and improve the way many medical procedures are performed. Working closely with physicians fr...s review, doctors could learn which techniques and procedures were most effective. "We could produce the equivalent of a flight-data recorder for the operating ro...Blood transfusions raise heart patients' infection and death risk -- especially women
...expanders," blood substitutes and blood-conserving procedures during bypass surgeries. The results also highlight the importance of the proper use of antibiotics and infection control practices in patients hospitalized for a surgical procedure, says Rogers. The U-M team is investigating the issue further, i...New tool being tested at Penn to halt recurrence of atrial fibrillation
...e but sedated. Electrophysiologists use ablation procedures (involving intense heat on the area of the heart c...untry, has been doing atrial fibrillation ablation procedures for the last several years. Callans states, "Ablation is definitely the future for treatment of atri...New research explores limits of non-invasive coronary imaging tests
...f CAD. Patients underwent both noninvasive imaging procedures within 30 days of each other. The MSCT was perform...ery) could result in unnecessary revascularization procedures and higher costs without clear benefits to patients. The results of this and other similar studies w...'Dua Anti-reflux Valve' found to improve quality of life for bile duct/pancreatic cancer patients
...ver, these stents frequently clog requiring repeat procedures to replace the clogged stents. The exact mechanism that leads to stent clogging is not known. There is a possibility that clogging occurs from contents from the intestines backflowing (refluxing) into the stent. The "Dua Anti-Reflux Valve" was initi...SCAI issues recommendations to prevent kidney damage after imaging procedures
... many diagnostic and interventional cardiovascular procedures because it enables doctors to visualize blocked bl...ividuals who undergo interventional cardiovascular procedures in which contrast dyes are used. Patients at greatest risk are the elderly, and those with diabetes,...