Smiling a Joy for Face Transplant Patients

Isabelle Dinoire, Li Guoxing, and an unnamed Frenchman all share the miracle of a smile after their faces were severely damaged by trauma and disease.  Their new smiles are the result of ground-breaking face transplants and, a couple of years after surgery for each of them, the results of their surgeries are said to be highly successful from both physical and psychological perspectives. Read more

Chewing Gum Speeds Recovery After Colon Surgery

One of the almost-guaranteed after-effects of surgery that removes all or part of the colon is an inability of the intestines to pass its contents further along the alimentary canal.  This condition, called postoperative ileus, is thought to be a major factor in the pain and discomfort that follow this type of surgery, with symptoms that include nausea, vomiting, painful cramps, and abdominal distension.  Treating these consequences of surgery cost the US healthcare system an estimated $1 billion each year. Read more

Bariatric Surgery Safest at Better Hospitals

Health Grades, Inc., has just released its third annual report on bariatric surgeries performed at surgical facilities across the nation.  It seems top-rated hospitals perform more of this increasingly popular surgery and they do so with 65% fewer complications than their lower-rated and less busy counterparts. Read more

$1.5 Billion Price Tag for Surgical Errors

The US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) issued a press release that describes the financial cost of medical errors related to surgery. It seems that, in addition to these errors costing lives, they also cost about $1.5 billion every year. Read more

Anesthesia May Increase Post-Surgical Pain

The June 23 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) carries the paradoxical findings of a report on the effects of certain general anesthesia drugs, including how they decrease feelings of pain during surgery but cause pain afterward. A research team from Georgetown University Medical Center conducted the study, funded by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the National Institutes of Health. Read more

Faulty Diagnosis Puts Organ Donation In The Spotlight

Every year organ donation gives thousands of Americans a second chance at life. On any given day, 100,000 men, women and children are waiting for life-saving organs. Six thousand people die every year because no organs could be found for them. Read more

Groundbreaking Surgery Saves Cancer Patient’s Life

“I’m glad I had a good anesthesiologist.” Brooke Zepp, a 63-year-old cancer patient from Pompano Beach, Florida, is also glad to have had such an outstanding team of transplant surgeons, too. Read more

Orthopedic Surgeons Treat ‘Signature’ War Wounds In Iraq

After learning that his 25-year-old son had been killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq, Dr. William Krissoff left his orthopedic practice in Nevada and signed up with the Navy Medical Corp Reserves. The 61 year old surgeon is part of a growing number of orthopedic surgeons who are committed to going to Iraq to help treat the devastating musculoskeletal injuries that have become the “signature” wounds in the war. Read more

Face Transplants in US Now Possible

Transplanting the face of a deceased person onto that of a living person might seem like something out of a science-fiction movie, but it’s not. The procedure, which actually does not include the entire face but mainly the nose, lips, and a portion of surrounding cheek tissue, has already been successfully performed on three patients outside the United States. Read more

No More Freebies for Doctors from Drug Companies

No more gifts or freebies for Massachusetts doctors from pharmaceutical companies, that is what Senate President Therese Murray is proposing. The ban would make Massachusetts the first state in the country to ban such gifts outright. The ban would prevent the pharmaceutical industry from giving and doctors, their families or employees from receiving gifts from drug companies. Read more

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