Apr 12, 2012

Much of health information technology (IT) focuses on patient documentation, compliance, and coding. While this is clearly a valuable service, there is still much more that can be garnered from health...

Apr 05, 2012

The 2012 annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons was held from February 7-11 in San Francisco. The features below highlight just some of the studies that emerged from the meetin...

Mar 27, 2012

Appendectomy is one of the more common surgical procedures that is performed throughout the United States each year despite decreasing in annual incidence. Open and laparoscopic appendectomy procedure...

Mar 27, 2012

Hospitals and medical centers are increasingly beginning to appreciate that disruptive behavior in the operating room (OR) is a problem deserving of serious attention. The costs associated with incivi...

Mar 26, 2012

An international study suggests that in patients with infective endocarditis complicated by heart failure (HF), the severity of HF appears to be strongly associated with surgical therapy and subsequen...

Mar 26, 2012

A next-generation drug-eluting stent system (PROMUS Element Plus Platinum Chromium Stent System, Boston Scientific) has received FDA approval for use in patients with coronary artery disease. The devi...

Mar 26, 2012

The FDA has approved an artificial heart valve (Sapien Transcatheter Heart Valve, Edwards Lifesciences) for use when replacing an aortic heart valve damaged by senile aortic valve stenosis. The FDA re...

Mar 26, 2012

European research suggests that bisphosphonate use appears to be associated with a nearly two-fold increase in implant survival time for patients undergoing lower limb arthroplasty. Time to revision a...

Mar 26, 2012

Carotid artery stenting (CAS) appears to be feasible, safe, and useful in patients with acute atherosclerotic extracranial internal carotid artery occlusions with severe stroke symptoms when used with...

Mar 26, 2012

A large literature review suggests that operating time, blood loss, and hospital stay for women undergoing vaginal hysterectomy can be reduced with energy-based vessel sealing devices when compared wi...

Feb 28, 2012

It is estimated that 20% to 25% of American adults have varicose veins, and 6% have more advanced chronic venous diseases (CVDs). While varicose veins were once considered a cosmetic problem, they are...

Feb 24, 2012

Alcohol abuse and dependence appears to be a significant problem among surgeons in the United States, according to a national survey published this month in Archives of Surgery. The online, anonymo...

Jan 24, 2012

During the transition from medical school to independent practice, residency training is critical for the development of physician confidence. According to recent studies, confidence in one’s own ca...

Jan 13, 2012

While inexperience is an obvious disadvantage in surgery, being in the profession for decades is also one — apparently.  A small study on the influence of performance of surgeons published in BMJ ...

Dec 06, 2011

In 2000, the Institute of Medicine distributed a report suggesting that many hospital errors were related to flaws within the healthcare delivery system. As a result of this report, patient safety ini...

Dec 02, 2011

A new study published in Surgical Endoscopy has found that surgeons can learn their skills quicker and handle stress better if they are taught eye movement control. Researchers identified the differen...

Dec 01, 2011

The American College of Surgeons held its 2011 Clinical Congress from October 23-27 in San Francisco. The features below highlight just some of the studies that emerged from the meeting.   » Pred...

Nov 28, 2011

Despite the passing of 140 years since first being described, little is known about Charcot foot as a lower-extremity complication of diabetes. Charcot foot occurs in about 1% of patients with diabete...

Nov 22, 2011

New research presented at CHEST 2011, the 77th annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians, from October 22-26 in Honolulu addressed many important topics in pulmonary, critical care, a...

Nov 22, 2011

Surgical procedures account for the transfusion of almost 15 million units of packed red blood cells (RBCs) every year in the United States. “There has been intense interest in blood conservation an...