Surgery Archives - Mediarabe

Acupuncture before surgery may reduce pain, opioid use

October 12, 2020

A new pilot study concludes that using acupuncture before surgery can reduce a person’s need for opioids following surgery. The Detroit-based researchers believe that acupuncture is a low-cost, safe method that reduces pain and anxiety in some people.

In the United States, the opioid crisis claimed the lives of 47,000 people in 2018, and almost a third of those deaths involved prescription opioids.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2018, two-thirds of drug overdose deaths involved an opioid. A 2018 report from Substances Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) states that 10.3 million people in the U.S. aged 12 or older misused opioids in the past year.

Opioids are a class of drugs that include the illegal drug heroin and the prescription drug fentanyl. Other prescription opioids include oxycodone, hydrocodone, morphine, and codeine.

According to a 2017 paper, over 80% of people receive a

To Your Good Health: Surgery is standard treatment for penile cancer | Columnists

October 10, 2020

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| Good Health

DEAR DR. ROACH: What can you tell me about cancer of the penis? I can’t seem to find information. — S.S.

ANSWER: Cancer of the penis is quite rare in industrialized nations, accounting for less than 1% of all cancers in men. By contrast, it is quite common in parts of Africa, Asia and South America, where it can account for 10% to 20% of all cancers.

One risk factor is phimosis, an inability to retract the foreskin. Circumcision decreases risk of penile cancer, but careful lifelong hygiene (thus avoiding phimosis) reduces the risk of penile cancer to the same level as seen in circumcised men. Human papillomavirus is another risk factor, found in 30% to 50% of penile cancers. HIV infection and tobacco use are other risk factors.

Surgery is the standard treatment for cancer of the penis. The goal of treatment is to preserve as much of the

Your Good Health: Breast-cancer surgery can reduce potential pain and suffering

October 10, 2020

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| Good Health

Dear Dr. Roach: My 90-year-old father has been diagnosed with breast cancer. His doctor is recommending mastectomy, after which time they will determine a course of treatment.

My father is fairly healthy for his age, although he does have high blood pressure, diabetes and spinal stenosis, for which he takes oral medications.

He has a history of transient ischemic attack at age 75.

I am concerned that the risks of surgery at this age may be greater than that posed by the cancer. There is not much information available on male breast cancer, and any information you could provide would be appreciated.

G.S.

I am sorry about your father. Breast cancer in men is less common than in women, but usually diagnosed later, as male breast cancer is not readily suspected by patients or many physicians.

Yours is a question I have seen frequently in medical practice. The risk of

Brain Surgery for a ‘Sweet Boy’: Saving Cronutt the Sea Lion

October 9, 2020

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| Health News

VALLEJO, Calif. — The adolescent patient turned sullen and withdrawn. He hadn’t eaten in 13 days. Treatment with steroids, phenobarbital and Valium failed to curb the symptoms of his epilepsy. Then, on Sept. 18, he had a terrible seizure — violently jerking his flippers and turning unconscious in the water.

Cronutt, a 7-year-old sea lion, had to be rescued so he didn’t drown. His veterinarian and the caretakers at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom began discussing whether it was time for palliative care.

“We’d tried everything,” said Dr. Claire Simeone, Cronutt’s longtime vet. “We needed more extreme measures.”

On Tuesday morning, Cronutt underwent groundbreaking brain surgery aimed at reversing the epilepsy.

If successful, the treatment could save increasing numbers of sea lions and sea otters from succumbing to a new plague of epilepsy. The cause is climate change.

As oceans warm, algae blooms have become more widespread, creating toxins that get

Novel Brain Surgery Seeks to Reverse Epilepsy in Sea Lion

October 8, 2020

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| Health Article

VALLEJO, Calif. — The adolescent patient turned sullen and withdrawn. He hadn’t eaten in 13 days. Treatment with steroids, phenobarbital and Valium failed to curb the symptoms of his epilepsy. Then, on Sept. 18, he had a terrible seizure — violently jerking his flippers and turning unconscious in the water.

Cronutt, a 7-year-old sea lion, had to be rescued so he didn’t drown. His veterinarian and the caretakers at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom began discussing whether it was time for palliative care.

“We’d tried everything,” said Dr. Claire Simeone, Cronutt’s longtime vet. “We needed more extreme measures.”

On Tuesday morning, Cronutt underwent groundbreaking brain surgery aimed at reversing the epilepsy.

If successful, the treatment could save increasing numbers of sea lions and sea otters from succumbing to a new plague of epilepsy. The cause is climate change.

As oceans warm, algae blooms have become more widespread, creating toxins that get

Virtual care after surgery may be more convenient for patients

October 8, 2020

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| Health

Virtual follow-up care for surgical patients provides as much face time with doctors as in-person care, according to a new study.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, many surgical patients are being offered virtual follow-up appointments instead of in-person visits, the researchers noted.

Their study included 400 patients who had minimally invasive laparoscopic removal of their appendix or gallbladder at two North Carolina hospitals. They were randomly assigned to a post-discharge virtual or in-person visit.

The study began in August 2017 but was put on hold in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, and only 64% of patients completed the follow-up visit.

Lead author Dr. Carolina Reinke said sometimes people are feeling so well after minimally invasive surgery that they don’t bother with the follow-up.

Total clinic time was longer for in-person visits than virtual visits — 58 minutes versus 19 minutes — but patients in both groups spent the

Surgery for benign breast conditions unlikely to harm breastfeeding ability

October 8, 2020

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Having surgery for benign breast conditions won’t harm a woman’s future ability to breastfeed, new research suggests.

The study included 85 women, aged 18 to 45. Fifteen had a prior history of benign breast conditions, including cysts, benign tumors and enlarged breasts. Sixteen had had breast surgery, including breast augmentation, reduction mammoplasty and biopsy.

Whether they’d had surgery or not, 80% were able to breastfeed or obtain breast milk for bottle-feeding, according to findings presented Saturday at a virtual meeting of the American College of Surgeons. Research presented at meetings should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Each year, nearly one million women in the United States are diagnosed with benign breast conditions. About half of women will have a benign breast lesion in their lifetime.

Many of these conditions are managed with surgery. Other common breast procedures include surgery to reduce enlarged breast tissue or augmentation

Ga. Hospital System Says Surgery Center Illegally Expanded

October 8, 2020

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| Health Center

Law360 (October 7, 2020, 7:39 PM EDT) — A nonprofit health system in South Georgia is accusing the state’s community health commissioner of ignoring problems with a Brunswick, Georgia, surgery center’s expansion that it says unfairly impacts the health system.

Southeast Georgia Health System Inc. sued the Georgia Department of Community Health and its commissioner Frank W. Berry in an Atlanta state court on Tuesday along with rival medical services provider Arc of Georgia LLC, doing business as Premier Surgery Center.

Both Southeast Georgia Health System and Premier Surgery Center offer outpatient surgery services within a mile of each other in Brunswick, according to the complaint.

Southeast says Berry…

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Virtual Care After Surgery May Be More Convenient For Patients | Health News

October 7, 2020

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By Robert Preidt, HealthDay Reporter

(HealthDay)

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 7, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Virtual follow-up care for surgical patients provides as much face time with doctors as in-person care, according to a new study.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, many surgical patients are being offered virtual follow-up appointments instead of in-person visits, the researchers noted.

Their study included 400 patients who had minimally invasive laparoscopic removal of their appendix or gallbladder at two North Carolina hospitals. They were randomly assigned to a post-discharge virtual or in-person visit.

The study began in August 2017 but was put on hold in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, and only 64% of patients completed the follow-up visit. Lead author Dr. Carolina Reinke said sometimes people are feeling so well after minimally invasive surgery that they don’t bother with the follow-up.

Total clinic time was longer for in-person visits than virtual visits (58

Man Wins $$Award for Unauthorized Penis Surgery; More

October 7, 2020

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| Health Article

Medical Battery: Patient and Proxy Didn’t Agree to Penis Mass Excision

A California appeals court has confirmed a multimillion dollar judgment awarded to a man who sustained injuries following penis surgery neither he nor his medical proxy consented to, according to a story posted on Legal Newsline.

In 2014, Keith Burchell went to Loma Linda University Medical Center, in Loma Linda, California, to have a small scrotal mass removed for testing. The outpatient procedure was supposed to be a relatively simple one.

During the procedure, however, Burchell’s surgeon, of Faculty Physicians and Surgeons of the Loma Linda University School of Medicine (FPS), discovered that the mass was more extensive than his presurgical exams had indicated, involving not only Burchell’s scrotum but his penis as well.

Believing this larger tumor to be malignant — and convinced that even a benign one of this size posed a potential risk should it continue

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