After Surgery in Germany, I Wanted Vicodin, Not Herbal Tea - The New York Times
MUNICH — I recently had a hysterectomy here in Munich, where we moved from California four years ago for my husband's job. Even though his job ended a year ago, we decided to stay while he tries to start a business. Thanks to the German health care system, our insurance remained in force. This, however, is not a story about the benefits of universal health care.Thanks to modern medicine, my hysterectomy was performed laparoscopically, without an overnight hospital stay. My only concern about this early release was pain management. The fibroids that necessitated the surgery were particularly large and painful, and the...
Source: Psychology of Pain - January 27, 2018 Category: Anesthesiology Source Type: blogs
England Is in the Throes of an Interventional Radiologist Shortage
The United Kingdom ’s National Health Service (NHS) is suffering from an extreme lack of interventional radiologists. According toThe Guardian, as a result of the shortage, many patients are forced to undergo unnecessary procedures that result in permanent and unwanted physical repercussions.According toThe Guardian, there are 44 percent fewer interventional radiologists than NHS hospitals require. The NHS needs 735 specialists in order to provide 24/7 service; however, according to data from the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR), there are only 414.As a result of this tremendous deficit, women who have recently given ...
Source: radRounds - January 19, 2018 Category: Radiology Authors: Julie Morse Source Type: blogs
Access to safe, affordable birth control is a maternal health issue
I am a physician.
As a high-risk obstetrician (maternal-fetal medicine specialist) I pride myself on caring for women who are likely to become (or who are already) so ill that many others view caring for them as a burden. I help women achieve a safe pregnancy when colleagues have advised against pregnancy altogether. Whether it is the patient with such a complex surgical history that her cesarean delivery will include massive blood loss and a hysterectomy, or the patient with a history of liver transplant trying to carry a pregnancy for the fourth time (each unsuccessful as she struggles in and out of graft rejection), or ...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - January 18, 2018 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Scott Shainker, DO, MS Tags: Family Planning and Pregnancy Health Women's Health birth control Source Type: blogs
Ovarian Cancer Does Not Exist; Effect on Gynecologic Cancer Surgery
When I was both a medical student and a pathology resident, I was intrigued by the fact that many ovarian cancers I looked at under the microscope consisted of columnar cells and often seemed to grow on the surface of the ovary. Various teachers told me that the neoplasms were mimicking peritoneal and tubal epithelium. Experts now assert that there is no such thing as"ovarian cancer" -- all such neoplasms are now thought to originate in the uterine tubes, thus explaining their histologic appearance (see:Tackling Cancer Myths: It ’s time to accept that ovarian cancer doesn’t exist). Here is an excerpt from thi...
Source: Lab Soft News - November 3, 2017 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Medical Consumerism Medical Education Medical Research Preventive Medicine Quality of Care Surgical Pathology Source Type: blogs
Robotic-Assisted Surgery – Current Challenges and Future Directions: Interview with Dr. Mona Orady
During the last decade and a half, robotic-assisted surgery has led to smaller scars, less pain, and faster recoveries for patients. Concurrently, surgeons using this technology have benefited from being able to perform surgeries in a more comfortable position, while also experiencing greater visualization and enhanced precision. With all of these benefits, robotic-assisted surgeries are becoming increasingly common worldwide, particularly in the United States, where more than 67 percent of all of Intuitive Surgical‘s da Vinci robots are installed. Moreover, just yesterday we covered the FDA clearance of the Senhance...
Source: Medgadget - October 17, 2017 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Kenan Raddawi Tags: Exclusive Ob/Gyn Surgery Thoracic Surgery Urology Source Type: blogs
Why are we seeing an epidemic of new IVF clinics in India?
There seems to be a new IVF clinic starting in practically every nook and corner in every town in India. Why this sudden spurt of IVF clinics coming up all over the place? Is it that the number of infertile couples has increased so dramatically that the requirement for IVF has gone up so sharply?The reason is actually far more crass and commercial. Senior obstetricians and gynecologists who are tired of delivering babies and hysterectomies want to do something new and different and cutting-edge. Many think IVF is a very lucrative field, and rather than referring their patients to an IVF specialist and losing all that ...
Source: Dr.Malpani's Blog - September 25, 2017 Category: Reproduction Medicine Source Type: blogs
Intuitive ’s New Budget Friendly da Vinci X Robotic Surgical System Cleared in U.S.
Intuitive Surgical is following up on the European clearance from a month ago for its da Vinci X robotic surgical system with a similar clearance from the FDA. The da Vinci X is a budget friendly cousin of existing offerings from Intuitive, yet offers many of the same capabilities and is upgradeable to include various others. All of the tools, such as staplers, firefly, and vessel sealers are available on the da Vinci X, as is the same training and support that is included with the more expensive devices.
The interface console that the surgeon uses to control the robot is the same as on other da Vincis and the robotic ar...
Source: Medgadget - May 31, 2017 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Editors Tags: Ob/Gyn Surgery Thoracic Surgery Urology Source Type: blogs
A letter from a doctor to her child
It was the end of my third year in OB/GYN residency. I was 39 weeks pregnant with you and doing a hysterectomy, my gravid abdomen being utilized as an “extra hand” to displace the large clamp nicely to the side as I pressed my belly gently against the table. I was doing surgery all day and loved operating and feeling your occasional gentle movements when in the quiet operating room as I was working. I knew my days were limited with us being one.
It was sometimes hard to breathe with the mask covering my face from the natural air hunger that can sometimes accompany pregnancy. I would have the OR nurse gently loosen my ...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - May 15, 2017 Category: General Medicine Authors: < a href="http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/valerie-a-jones" rel="tag" > Valerie A. Jones, MD < /a > Tags: Physician OB/GYN Source Type: blogs
Research and Reviews in the Fastlane 181
LITFL: Life in the Fast Lane Medical Blog
LITFL: Life in the Fast Lane Medical Blog - Emergency medicine and critical care medical education blog
Welcome to the 181st edition of Research and Reviews in the Fastlane. R&R in the Fastlane is a free resource that harnesses the power of social media to allow some of the best and brightest emergency medicine and critical care clinicians from all over the world tell us what they think is worth reading from the published literature.
This edition contains 5 recommended reads. The R&R Editorial Team includes Jeremy Fried, Nudrat Rashid, Justin Morgenstern and Chris Ni...
Source: Life in the Fast Lane - May 11, 2017 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Jeremy Fried Tags: Emergency Medicine Intensive Care R&R in the FASTLANE Toxicology and Toxinology critical care EBM literature recommendations research and reviews Resuscitation Source Type: blogs
Research and Reviews in the Fastlane 181
LITFL • Life in the Fast Lane Medical Blog
LITFL • Life in the Fast Lane Medical Blog - Emergency medicine and critical care medical education blog
Welcome to the 181st edition of Research and Reviews in the Fastlane. R&R in the Fastlane is a free resource that harnesses the power of social media to allow some of the best and brightest emergency medicine and critical care clinicians from all over the world tell us what they think is worth reading from the published literature.
This edition contains 5 recommended reads. The R&R Editorial Team includes Jeremy Fried, Nudrat Rashid, Justin Morgenstern and Ch...
Source: Life in the Fast Lane - May 11, 2017 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Jeremy Fried Tags: Emergency Medicine Intensive Care R&R in the FASTLANE Toxicology and Toxinology critical care EBM literature recommendations research and reviews Resuscitation Source Type: blogs
This gynecological issue is misdiagnosed over 50 percent of the time
As a consultant in gynecologic pathology, I receive requests for second opinions from patients who have been diagnosed with endometrial hyperplasia. My opinion is based upon correlating the relevant clinical history with a review of the patient’s pathology slides and report. In my experience, there is a difference of opinion that leads to a change in treatment in about half of the cases. 75 percent of cases with changed diagnoses are downgraded to a less serious condition or normal variant, and the remaining 25 percent of those cases are upgraded to a more serious condition.
Pathologists are particularly likely to overdi...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - May 4, 2017 Category: Journals (General) Authors: < a href="http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/roger-reichert" rel="tag" > Roger Reichert, MD, PhD < /a > Tags: Conditions OB/GYN Source Type: blogs
Thanks to the AHCA We Could Now See Cervical Cancer Rates Increase
By ILANA ADDIS, MD
In 2014 I took my first trip to Kenya. After my plane landed in Nairobi I rode for 10 hours with my medical colleagues to Bungoma, a town on the western edge of the country. We set up our clinic in the local hospital and then spent the week training local healthcare providers on a technique called ‘Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIA)’. This is an inexpensive method to screen for cervical cancer and pre-cancer in low resource settings using vinegar. As a part of the training we screened 189 women for cervical cancer in that week.
The Papaniculou (pap) smear was revolutionary in cervical cancer pr...
Source: The Health Care Blog - May 4, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: John Irvine Tags: Uncategorized Cervical Cancer MacArthur Amendment Source Type: blogs
We Could Now See Cervical Cancer Rates Increase
By ILANA ADDIS, MD
In 2014 I took my first trip to Kenya. After my plane landed in Nairobi I rode for 10 hours with my medical colleagues to Bungoma, a town on the western edge of the country. We set up our clinic in the local hospital and then spent the week training local healthcare providers on a technique called ‘Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIA)’. This is an inexpensive method to screen for cervical cancer and pre-cancer in low resource settings using vinegar. As a part of the training we screened 189 women for cervical cancer in that week.
The Papaniculou (pap) smear was revolutionary in cervical cancer pr...
Source: The Health Care Blog - May 4, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: John Irvine Tags: Uncategorized Cervical Cancer MacArthur Amendment Source Type: blogs
Intuitive Cleared in EU for Its New, More Budget Friendly da Vinci X Robotic Surgical System
Intuitive Surgical, makers of the famous da Vinci line of robotic-assisted surgical platforms, just announced receiving European regulatory approval to introduce its new da Vinci X surgical system. The system is designed for customers that can’t afford the hefty price tag of more expensive da Vinci robots while offering many of the same capabilities as those products. The console that the surgeon uses to manipulate the robot stays the same, as well as the display cart which nearby clinicians use to monitor the procedure.
Similar to the da Vinci Si system, the da Vinci X has its robotic arms mounted on a side cart, w...
Source: Medgadget - April 28, 2017 Category: Medical Equipment Authors: Editors Tags: Ob/Gyn Surgery Thoracic Surgery Urology Source Type: blogs
Some Surgicenters Listing Prices, Reject Insurance, and Require Cash Payment
I have been closely tracking various developments in free-standing clinics and surgicenters that may stumulate a more competitive environment for hospitals (see, for example:Tug of War between Hospitals and Surgicenters for Knee Replacements). I recently blogged about how opaque hospital bills have discouraged many patients (see:Coding for Hospital Services; One Reason for the High Cost of Healthcare). I also posted a note about how some hospitals were providing more price transparency (see:Greater Transparency for Hospital Charges Slowly Becoming the Norm).In order to be more competitiv...
Source: Lab Soft News - April 14, 2017 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Cost of Healthcare Healthcare Business Healthcare Delivery Healthcare Insurance Hospital Financial Medical Consumerism Quality of Care Source Type: blogs
