Aug 23, 2012

The prevalence of substance use disorders in the United States has been well documented in published research. Nearly 8% to 12% of Americans aged 12 and older meet criteria for alcohol abuse or depend...

Aug 23, 2012

The American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association, and Heart Rhythm Society have published guidelines that provide patient selection criteria for the use of implantable cardioverter-defib...

Aug 23, 2012

The Occluded Artery Trial (OAT) was a large, randomized controlled study funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute that tested routine percutaneous recanalization of persistently totally...

Aug 23, 2012

As healthcare costs rise, patients are demanding a higher level of service. This expectation goes beyond the bedside and includes everything from registration to final statements. Every individual inv...

Aug 23, 2012

A national survey has found that 71% of physicians reported that they educated patients 25% of the time or less about radiation risks when they ordered CT tests. Only 27% reported feeling comfortable ...

Aug 22, 2012

A study from researchers in the United States suggests that many patients do not pay attention to prescription warning labels. This effect was more pronounced for older than younger participants. The ...

Aug 16, 2012

Venous thromboembolism (VTE), which includes DVT and pulmonary embolism (PE), is the third leading cause of cardiovascular death among Americans and is especially fatal if these events go undiagnosed ...

Aug 16, 2012

Paraparesis, paraplegia, and quadriplegia are potential complications of spinal cord surgeries or procedures that put the spinal cord at risk. Intraoperative monitoring can alert surgeons and anesthes...

Aug 16, 2012

Most cardiology training programs in the United States do not appear to adhere to basic preventive cardiovascular medicine Core Cardiovascular Training Symposium guidelines, according to survey findin...

Aug 16, 2012

Radiation oncologists appear to be left out of the decision-making process by other physicians who are treating patients with breast cancer, according to survey results. The analysis showed that 27.9%...

Aug 16, 2012

A review of four small trials suggests that testosterone therapy appears to improve functional capacity in heart failure patients when compared with placebo. However, better powered randomized control...

Aug 16, 2012

Endogenous subclinical hyperthyroidism appears to be associated with increased risks of coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality and incident atrial fibrillation (AF). A large international investigatio...

Aug 15, 2012

The CDC analyzed data on smoking cessation among 27,157 United States adults between 2001 and 2010. The analysis revealed the following: ...

Aug 13, 2012

There is much hand-wringing about the shortage of primary care physicians. But primary care is not the only specialty with deficits. In a few years, all surgical specialties will experience significan...

Aug 09, 2012

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a common and dangerous condition that affects millions of Americans, especially those with a history of diabetes or smoking. Despite efforts to increase awareness ...

Aug 02, 2012

A meta-analysis has found patient-specific strategies should be used during perioperative management of patients that balances risks of stopping aspirin with risks associated with continuing it. Aspir...

Aug 02, 2012

Partial nephrectomy appears to be associated with better survival among Medicare beneficiaries with early-stage kidney cancer than radical nephrectomy, according to a large investigation. Mortality ra...

Aug 02, 2012

A University of California, Irvine study  has found that the overall splenic injury rate for patients undergoing colorectal resection was appears to be less than 1.0%, but several predictors of these...

Aug 02, 2012

The FDA has granted 510(k) marketing clearance for a cervical cage (ROI-C Lordotic Cervical Cage, LDR) that can be used in spinal surgeries. The cage can be used in patients with varied anatomy and in...

Aug 02, 2012

Here’s a little story from the early days of my first job as a chairman of surgery. Shortly after I assumed the role of surgical chairman in a community teaching hospital at the ripe old age of 4...