Hospital For Special Surgery Has Lowest Infection Rate For Total Hip Replacement In New York State
For the third year in a row, Hospital for Special Surgery is the only hospital in New York State with an infection rate that is significantly lower than the state average for hip replacement or revision surgeries, according to the 2010 report on hospital infection rates just released by the State Department of Health. "It is vital to a patient's well-being that they are aware of a center's infection rate when choosing where to have surgery, " said Louis A. Shapiro, president and CEO. "I am proud of the achievement that our entire staff continues to make in keeping more patients safe from infection." Surgeons at Hospital for Special Surgery performed the most hip replacement surgeries in New York State, with more than 3, 800 procedures, which is about 15 percent of the approximate 26, 000 hip replacement or revision procedures in New York State in 2010.
Improving Treatment Of Children With Premature Skull Bone Fusion
Engineers and surgeons are working together to improve the treatment of babies born with craniosynostosis, a condition that causes the bone plates in the skull to fuse too soon. Treating this condition typically requires surgery after birth to remove portions of the fused skull bones, and in some cases the bones grow together again too quickly -- requiring additional surgeries. Researchers in the Atlanta-based Center for Pediatric Healthcare Technology Innovation are developing imaging techniques designed to predict whether a child's skull bones are likely to grow back together too quickly after surgery. They are also developing technologies that may delay a repeat of the premature fusion process.
Surgeons Replace Man s Severed Thumb With Big Toe
Surgeons in the UK have given a man who accidentally sawed off his thumb a new thumb by attaching his big toe in its place. James Byrne, a 29-year-old man from Fishponds, Bristol, England, cut off his thumb while sawing wood last December. Byrne told the media he felt "really really lucky", according to a BBC News report on Wednesday. Surgeons had tried to re-attach the damaged thumb but that did not work. Surgeon Umraz Khan performed the operation at Frenchay Hospital, a regional micro-surgery centre in Bristol. The hospital is well-known for carrying out this type of procedure. Byrne hopes to be back at work as a paver in a few months. He said he thought Khan was joking when he told him "you'll have a thumb even if I have to take your toe".
Ultrasonic Instrument May Be Helpful For Cosmetic Surgery, Such As Rhinoplasty
Cosmetic surgeons have a variety of tools with which to perform rhinoplasty, (cosmetic surgery of the nose). These include bone saws, carbide rasps and power-assisted rasps. However, each tool has limitations that decrease its usefulness for cosmetic surgery. For example, the tools may cause deformities, damage surrounding structures and tissue, prove difficult to use in addressing mobile bone fragments or obstruct direct visualization. A report in the September issue of Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals, outlines how a device known as the ultrasonic bone aspirator (which uses sound waves to remove bone without damage to surrounding soft tissue or mucous membranes) may be a useful tool for surgeons performing cosmetic rhinoplasty.
Plastic Surgery Using Personalised 3D Avatars
An avatar is really no more than a graphical representation, generally human, which is associated with a user for identification purposes. Avatars can be either photographs or art drawings, and certain technologies enable their use in three dimensions. Until now, 3D avatars were mainly used as fun objects for diversion and entertainment purposes of the end user. However, the Media Unit at TECNALIA has developed a "Personalised 3D avatars" technology, the aim of which is to facilitate the building of low-cost 3D avatars. This 3D avatar is used as a responsible interface to give advice to users, motivating them and guiding them while interacting with the computer.
Neurosurgery Assembles Recent Papers On Concussion In Sports
The last few years have seen increasing concern over the effects of concussions and head trauma in sports including the risk of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) occurring in athletes. The editors of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, have created a new online collection of important recent research papers on concussions and head injury in sports. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health. The new collection is now available, and can be viewed by clicking on the "Collections" tab on the journal website. "We've seen a large number of website visitors looking for articles relevant to concussions in athletes in CTE, " comments Nelson M.
New Method To Grow Synthetic Collagen May Find Use In Reconstructive Surgery, Cosmetics, Tissue Engineering
In a significant advance for cosmetic and reconstructive medicine, scientists at Rice University have unveiled a new method for making synthetic collagen. The new material, which forms from a liquid in as little as an hour, has many of the properties of natural collagen and may prove useful as a scaffold for regenerating new tissues and organs from stem cells. "Our work is significant in two ways, " said Rice's Jeffrey Hartgerink, the lead author of a new paper about the research in Nature Chemistry. "Our final product more closely resembles native collagen than anything that's previously been made, and we make that material using a self-assembly process that is remarkably similar to processes found in nature.
Breast Tissue Reconstruction Using Computer-Aided Design
A technology usually reserved for designing buildings, bridges and aircraft has now been used to aid breast tissue reconstruction in cancer patients. In a study published in IOP Publishing's journal Biofabrication, researchers used computer-aided design (CAD) to create an extremely accurate mould of a breast that was used as a visual aid to surgeons in tissue reconstruction operations. Furthermore, CAD was used to design and produce patient-specific physical scaffolds that could potentially be used in conjunction with one of the most promising areas of medicine - tissue engineering. In theory, patients' own cells could be harnessed and grown onto the highly specific scaffold and then transferred to the affected area, avoiding the need to transfer tissue from other parts of the body which can cause large scars, result in considerable blood loss and require five to ten hours of anaesthesia.
Gastric Bypass Reduces Blood Pressure
The kidneys play an important role in the regulation of blood pressure by adjusting the production of urine after eating or drinking. This process begins already in the upper digestive tract, which could explain why gastric bypass surgery for obesity also markedly reduce blood pressure, reveals a thesis from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg. The kidneys can quickly adjust the production of urine after consumption of food or drink, which is important so that the composition of bodily fluids and the blood does not vary too much. "My research shows that this elimination of urine starts already when salt and water reach the upper part of the digestive tract, " says researcher Peter Hallersund from the Sahlgrenska Academy.
Heart Catheterization Performed Through The Wrist Can Result In Fewer Complications
Each year, more than one million cardiac catheterizations are performed in the United States, and most of these procedures are performed through the groin to access the arteries that provide blood supply to the heart. Now, interventional cardiologists at the Stony Brook University Heart Center and elsewhere are performing more heart catheterizations by going through the wrist instead of the groin. Called "transradial access, " this emerging approach has increased advantages for patients, including reduced complications, increased patient comfort, and quicker recovery time. "We are expanding our use of transradial access for both diagnostic and interventional procedures to ensure better patient outcomes and comfort, " says Luis Gruberg, M.
