Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Health Care Systems, JAMA, Outcomes & Safety, Surgical Research, Yale / 12.04.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Daniel J. Boffa, MD Associate Professor of Thoracic Surgery Yale School of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Prominent cancer hospitals have been sharing their brands with smaller hospitals in the community.  We conducted a series of nationally representative surveys and found that a significant proportion of the U.S. public assumes that the safety of care is the same at all hospitals that share the same respected brand.  In an effort to determine if safety was in fact the same, we examined complex surgical procedures in the Medicare database. We compared the chance of dying within 90 days of surgery between top-ranked hospitals, and the affiliate hospitals that share their brands.  When taking into account differences in patient age, health, and type of procedure, Medicare patients were 1.4 times more likely to die after surgery at the affiliate hospitals, compared to those having surgery at the top-ranked cancer hospitals. (more…)
AACR, Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, Cancer Research, Surgical Research / 08.04.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sharon S. Lum, MD, FACS, Professor Department of Surgery-Division of Surgical Oncology Medical Director of the Breast Health Center Loma Linda University Health Loma Linda University School of Medicine  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?   Response: Anecdotally, we observed that many patients with advanced HER2+ breast cancer have had tremendous responses to the new targeted therapies and the oncologists were referring them back to surgeons for consideration of local regional therapy. While traditionally surgeons have avoided operating on metastatic breast cancer patients due to the patient’s likelihood of dying from their metastatic disease, these HER2+ patients seemed to be doing so well that surgery might make sense. In our surgical oncology clinic, we seemed to be operating more on these patients. Since these patients seemed to be living longer, they might survive long enough for their primary tumor to become a problem for them. However, we did not have any data to support doing surgery in these cases. Prior studies have demonstrated mixed results regarding the survival benefit from surgery for stage IV breast cancer patients, but these were completed prior to routine use of anti-HER targeted therapies, so we wanted to further examine the role of surgery in HER2+ stage IV breast cancer patients. (more…)
Author Interviews, ENT, JAMA, Pain Research, Pediatrics, Surgical Research / 05.04.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Gillian R. Diercks, MD, MPH Instructor in Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School Department of Otolaryngology Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary Boston, Massachusetts  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Pediatric tonsillectomy is a commonly performed procedure, representing the second most common ambulatory surgery performed on children in the United States, with over half a million children undergoing the surgery annually.  A major concern for surgeons, patients, and their families is the issue of postoperative pain control as pain can last up to 10-14 days after surgery, be quite severe, and result in readmission to the hospital or ED visits for medications and dehydration. In young children and children with sleep apnea we cannot safely administer narcotic pain medications at home.  This leaves limited options for pain control, including acetaminophen and ibuprofen.  However, there are concerns that ibuprofen could potentially increase bleeding risk after surgery because of its effects on platelet function in the blood.  At baseline, the risk of postoperative hemorrhage within the first two weeks after tonsillectomy is around 4.5%, with about 1-1.5% of children requiring a return to the operating room to control severe bleeding.  Our study set out to show that the risk of severe postoperative bleeding when ibuprofen is given for 9 days after tonsillectomy was not increased compared with the bleeding risk when acetaminophen was administered instead. Our study could not conclude that the risk of bleeding is no different when ibuprofen is used, and was suggestive that the bleeding risk may actually be higher. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cost of Health Care, UCLA / 27.03.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: John N. Mafi, MD, MPH Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research Department of Medicine David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA RAND Health, RAND Corporation MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What types of services are low-value in this setting?  Response: For decades we have known that offering routine preoperative testing for patients undergoing cataract surgery provides limited value, yet low-value preoperative testing persists at very high rates, even at Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, one of the largest safety net health systems in the United States. (more…)
Author Interviews, OBGYNE, Surgical Research / 25.03.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Jemianne Bautista-Jia,  MD Radiology resident Kaiser Permanente MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: There were a few patient experiences that took me by surprise. I had a patient come to clinic for an initial consultation for uterine fibroid embolization (UFE) and I asked her how she knew about the procedure. She told me that she heard about it on the radio. Another patient who came in told me she heard about it from a close friend. Why did these patients not hear about UFE from their primary physicians? Being a woman, I know that if I had this condition I would prefer a minimally invasive option over surgery. Surgery comes with complications, and I definitely would not want an organ removed from my body if I could avoid it. Therefore I wanted to study UAE to hopefully provide additional objective data to the scientific community to support its use for the treatment of women with fibroids. (more…)
Author Interviews, Opiods, Orthopedics, Surgical Research / 18.03.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Alexis Colvin, MD Associate Professor of Orthopedic Surgery Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: 40% of all opioid overdose deaths involve a prescription opioid and orthopaedic surgeons are the 3rd highest prescribers of opioids.  Set guidelines for post surgery opioid prescriptions have not been established.  Arthroscopic knee meniscectomy is one of the most common orthopaedic procedures.  The purpose of this study was to determine how many opioids were being prescribed  among a group of six sports fellowship trained orthopaedic surgeons versus how many patients were actually using. (more…)
Author Interviews, Health Care Systems, JAMA, Outcomes & Safety, Surgical Research / 22.02.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Alexis G. Antunez MS University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor Center for Healthcare Outcomes and Policy University of Michigan, Ann Arbor MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer is implementing a National Accreditation Program for Rectal Cancer (NAPRC), aiming to improve and standardize the quality of rectal cancer care in the United States. While this is a commendable goal, previous accreditation programs in other specialties have faced controversy around their uncertain impact on access to care. Furthermore, it is well established that the quality of rectal cancer care is associated with patients’ socioeconomic position. So, the NAPRC could have the unintended consequence of widening disparities and limiting access to high quality rectal cancer care for certain patient populations.  (more…)
Anesthesiology, Author Interviews, JAMA, Surgical Research / 07.02.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Michael Avidan, MBBCh, FCA SA Dr. Seymour and Rose T. Brown Professor of Anesthesiology Chief of the Division of Clinical and Translational Research Director of the Infrastructure of Quality Improvement, Research and Informatics Washington University School of Medicine St Louis, MO  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Postoperative delirium, a temporary state of confusion and inattention, is common in older adults after major surgery. Delirium can be distressing to patients, family members and clinicians. It is associated with longer hospital stays, other medical complications, cognitive decline, and death. Some previous studies have found that using electroencephalography (EEG) monitoring of the brain during general anesthesia decreases the occurrence of delirium following surgery. Therefore we conducted a rigorous study to determine whether using information from the EEG to guide the safe reduction of inhaled anesthetic drugs would prevent postoperative delirium and improve other outcomes in older adults following major surgery. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, MRI, NEJM / 06.02.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Martina Callaghan PhD Head of Physics & Senior Lecturer Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging Institute of Neurology University College London London

MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for this study?  What are the main findings?

Response: As mirrors the situation in the general population, we found that an increasing number of volunteers who were seeking to enter cognitive neuroscience studies at our Centre had tattoos. However, the magnetic fields used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) pose a potential safety risk for people with tattoos. A number of case reports have described such incidents.  However, as these describe isolated cases retrospectively, there was not enough information to objectively assess the risk of tattoo-related adverse reactions for persons having an MRI scan.  Therefore, in 2011, we decided to embark upon this first prospective study to quantitatively assess this risk.

(more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Esophageal, NEJM, Surgical Research / 11.01.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Guillaume Piessen, MD, PhD University Hospital Centre Lille, Franc MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Patients requiring surgery for esophageal cancer fare better after undergoing a hybrid minimally invasive esophagectomy (HMIE) with a combined laparoscopy+thoracotomy procedure compared to an open esophagectomy (OE), according to results of the MIRO trial published in the last issue of the New England Journal Of Medicine (link article). This French prospective multi-center randomized controlled study was funded by the French National Cancer Institute (Grant n° 1907). The study was conducted by Pr Mariette who sadely passed away in 2017 and Pr Piessen (Department of Digestive and Oncological Surgery, CHU Lille), under the hauspice of FRENCH (Fédération de Recherche EN Chirurgie) and FREGAT (French Eso-Gastric Tumors) working group (https://www.fregat-database.org/fr/). Postoperative morbidity, especially pulmonary complications, affects more than half of patients after open esophagectomy for esophageal cancer. Hybrid minimally invasive esophagectomy (HMIE) combines a laparoscopic abdominal phase with an open thoracotomy, which may have specific advantages including lower rate of pulmonary complications, without laparoscopic tumor dissection limiting potential tumor spillage and easier reproducibility of the technique [12]. Postoperative morbidity, especially pulmonary complications, affects more than half of patients after open esophagectomy for esophageal cancer. Hybrid minimally invasive esophagectomy (HMIE) combines a laparoscopic abdominal phase with an open thoracotomy, which may have specific advantages including lower rate of pulmonary complications, without laparoscopic tumor dissection limiting potential tumor spillage and easier reproducibility of the technique [12]. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Dermatology / 15.12.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Kristine A. Romine MD CEO and Founder of Camelback Dermatology & Skin Surgery Phoenix, AZ MedicalResearch.com: Would you give a brief overview of the different types of skin cancer? Response: There are multiple types of skin cancer, including: melanoma, basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and actinic keratosis. Known as the deadliest form of skin cancer, melanoma develops when irreparable DNA damage results in malignant transformation of melanocytes. This type of skin cancer is most commonly caused by intense UV exposure from the sun or tanning beds, which activate mutations that lead skin cells to rapidly multiply and form malignant tumors. Melanoma can range in color from dark brown to black and are rarely red or even skin colored. They are usually irregular and asymmetrical. In 2018, there were an estimated 91,270 new cases of melanoma (American Cancer Society, 2018). Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common type of skin cancer and cancer diagnosed. BCCs arise in the skins’ outermost layers. BCCs resemble open sores, red or pink plaques, pearly nodules with telangiectasia, or scars. It is estimated that 4.3 million BCCs are diagnosed in the U.S. every year (Skin Cancer Foundation, 2018). Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), the second most common type of skin cancer, arises from the squamous cells in the skin that have been exposed to UV over long periods of time. SCCs appear as scaly red or pink macules, papules, or plaques. They can be crusted and appear eroded and can commonly arise within a solar keratosis. More than 1 million cases of SCC are diagnosed in the U.S. every year (Skin Cancer Foundation, 2018). Lastly, actinic keratoses (AKs) are the most common pre-cancerous skin growth that can develop into a SCC if left untreated. Similar to all other types, AKs are caused by exposure to UV light and, in rare cases, high exposures to x-rays. AKs can appear on sun-exposed areas, including the face, scalp, ears, shoulders, and legs. They resemble pink, scaly rough patches on the skin. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Surgical Research, Weight Research / 28.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Michael Rozier, S.J., Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Health Management and Policy College for Public Health and Social Justice St. Louis University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Patients considering surgery for weight loss have several options, which differ in significant ways, such as expected weight loss, risk of complication, modification of diet, effect on other medical conditions, and more. Previous studies have asked patients why they chose one procedure over another. Instead, we quantified the relative importance of the key characteristics of surgical options. Using a discrete choice experiment, potential patients were given profiles of two weight loss options. They were asked to select one profile based on key characteristics such as out-of-pocket costs, total weight loss, risk of complication, and five other factors. (more…)
Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, JAMA, Prostate Cancer, Radiation Therapy, Surgical Research / 16.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Anthony Victor D'Amico, MD, PhD Professor and Chief, Genitourinary Radiation Oncology Harvard Medical School MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: This study investigated whether surgery followed by the use of adjuvant low dose radiation and short course hormonal therapy as compared to high dose radiation and hormonal therapy could provide an equivalent low risk of death from prostate cancer amongst men presenting with aggressive and not infrequently fatal Gleason score 9 or 10 prostate cancer. It has been shown previously (https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2673969) and validated in the current study that surgery alone in such cases leads to a more then 2.5-fold increase in the risk of death from prostate cancer as compared to high dose radiation and hormonal therapy.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Surgical Research, Weight Research / 14.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Alison E. Field, ScD Professor and Chair of Epidemiology Brown University School of Public Heath Providence, RI MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?   Response: In the United States, approximately 40% of adults are obese. There are a range of treatment options, but relatively few people are able to lose weight and maintain the loss. The most effective treatment is bariatric surgery, but even among patients who have undergone bariatric surgery, there is a range in weight change patterns after surgery. This suggests that not all people with obesity are similar. There may be different causes and optimal treatment plans that vary by obesity subgroup. Our goal was to identify subgroups and to examine if they differed in terms of weight loss after bariatric surgery. (more…)
AHA Journals, Author Interviews, Heart Disease, Surgical Research / 13.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Srikanth Yandrapalli New York Medical College NYMC · Cardiology MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Selection of coronary artery bypass grafting over percutaneous coronary intervention during an acute myocardial infarction is influenced by the extent of coronary artery disease and patient comorbidities. Prior studies have shown sex and racial differences in coronary artery diseaseburden. We sought to identify if there are any sex and racial differences in the utilization of  coronary artery bypass grafting over percutaneous coronary intervention during a revascularized first  acute myocardial infarction in the US. We found that males had a higher coronary artery bypass grafting rate than women, and compared to Whites, Blacks had lower coronary artery bypass grafting rate and Asians had higher coronary artery bypass grafting at the time of a first myocardial infarction. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Opiods, Surgical Research, University of Michigan / 07.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Joceline Vu, MD Resident, PGY-5 Department of Surgery University of Michigan  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: This study examined how much opioid patients use after surgery, and looked at factors that might predispose some patients to use more or less. Patient opioid use after surgery is an interesting question that’s gained a lot of attention recently, because it’s different from other uses for opioids. If you have chronic pain, you’re probably going to use all of your prescription. But if you have surgery, you may not take all of your pills, and this leaves people with leftover pills that can be dangerous later. From this study, we found that patients only use, on average, about quarter of their prescription, meaning that a lot of them are left with leftover pills. Moreover, we found that the biggest determinant of how much they used wasn’t how much pain they reported, or any other factor—it was how big their original prescription was. What this means is that opioid use after surgery isn’t just determined by pain, but also by what surgeons prescribe. It’s important to keep this in mind as we try to reduce unnecessary opioid prescribing after surgical procedures.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, Surgical Research / 31.10.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Akram Elgendy MD Division of Cardiovascular Medicine University of Florida   MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Recent clinical trials have demonstrated that percutaneous patent foramen ovale closure is associated with lower risk of stroke recurrence in cryptogenic stroke patients. However, new-onset atrial fibrillation (AF) has been reported as a safety concern. To better understand the risk of new-onset AF, we performed a meta-analysis of PFO closure trials in patients with cryptogenic stroke and migraine. (more…)
Author Interviews, Pediatrics, Stanford, Surgical Research, Weight Research / 22.10.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Janey Pratt, MD Clinical Associate Professor, Surgery Stanford UniversityDr. Janey Pratt, MD Clinical Associate Professor, Surgery Stanford University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: In 2013 obesity became recognized as a disease.  The rate of pediatric obesity continues to rise.  Severe pediatric obesity is rising at a even faster rate than obesity in pediatrics.  Despite this Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (MBS) remains underutilized in the treatment of severe pediatric obesity.  There is a significant amount of adult data and now pediatric data about effective treatments for severe obesity.  These support the use of MBS as a primary treatment for severe obesity in children. (BMI > 120% of 95th percentile with a comorbidity or BMI > 140% of 95th percentile). (more…)
Author Interviews, Cognitive Issues, Geriatrics, JAMA, Surgical Research / 17.10.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with Mark Oldham, M.D. Assistant Professor of Psychiatry Medical Director, PRIME Medicine Proactive Integration of Mental Health Care in Medicine University of Rochester Medical Center MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Patients who have undergone coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery and, specifically, those who have been placed on cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) have received attention for the potential effects of such procedures on brain health. Heart valve surgery patients have received far less attention, which often leaves clinicians to extrapolate the data from CABG cohorts to their patients preparing to undergo valve surgery. However, there are many reasons why this is far less than ideal, especially as the CABG literature increasingly points to person- and procedure-specific factors as the determinants of postoperative cognitive outcomes. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Orthopedics, Surgical Research / 03.10.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: "Meniscus adalah tisu/rawan berbentuk huruf C yang berfungsi mencegah dua tulang bergesel di antara satu sama lain di bahagian lutut. Tisu meniscus yang koyak berpunca kebiasaannya daripada bersukan yang melibatkan pergerakan lutut yang banyak. Warga emas" by Rawatan Alternatif Shah Alam is licensed under CC BY 2.0 Victor A. van de Graaf, MD OLVG Ziekenhuis Amsterdam MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Although meniscal surgeries are among the most frequently performed surgical procedures in orthopedic surgery, until just recently there were hardly any randomized trials proving its superiority over conservative treatment. In this randomized clinical trial, including 321 patients with non-obstructive (e.g. no locking of the knee joint) meniscal tears, we found physical therapy non-inferior to arthroscopic partial meniscectomy.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Surgical Research / 24.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Maarten Persenaire, MD Co-founder, Chief Medical Officer TELA Bio MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: OviTex Reinforced BioScaffolds (RBSs) are a novel distinct class of surgical implants that combine biologic and synthetic materials in a unique embroidered construction and design for hernia repair and soft tissue reconstruction. The two recent publications reported clinical results of OviTex RBS performance in inguinal and hiatal hernia repair. Case series published in the International Journal of Surgery Open evaluated the role of OviTex RBSs in inguinal hernia repair to reduce the incidence of chronic postoperative pain. Thirty-one consecutive patients who had inguinal hernia repaired with OviTex RBSs were followed for an average of 12.6 months, during which time there were no reported recurrences, complications requiring surgical intervention or infections. None of the patients reported postoperative inguinal pain beyond the first days after surgery and none required a narcotic pain medication refill. The second study published in the Journal of the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons is the first reported series describing the use of OviTex RBSs in hiatal hernia repair. A retrospective chart review of 25 consecutive patients undergoing laparoscopic or open hiatal hernia repairs with mean follow-up of 14.2 months showed no recurrences. The hiatal hernia repairs with OviTex RBSs resulted in good to excellent control and resolution of symptoms, including heartburn, dysphagia, regurgitation, nausea and vomiting, dyspnea, and chest pain or discomfort.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Surgical Research / 19.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Professor David Taylor Trinity Centre for Bioengineering Trinity College Dublin The University of Dublin, Ireland MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The study was motivated by the emerging clinical problem of the failure of surgical mesh products used for transvaginal operations. Increasing numbers of women are experiencing the failure of mesh used to treated vaginal prolapse, urinary incontinence and other pelvic organ conditions. I carried out a survey of all existing research, including medical case reports, meta studies of clinical outcomes and biomechanics research on the material, which is a knitted plastic mesh. A phenomenon known as "mesh erosion" causes damage to surrounding tissues and organs and can leave the person in severe and lasting pain.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, Surgical Research / 17.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Emily Albright, MD Surgical Oncology Missouri University Health Care MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Traditional medicine had a paternalistic approach but more recent changes have transitioned into shared decision making and a patient centered approach. However, current research has not addressed the mode of communicating bad news to patients. This study was designed to look at trends in modes of communication of a breast cancer diagnosis. This study identified a trend for patients to receive a diagnosis of breast cancer over the telephone in more recent years. Also noted was that of those receiving the diagnosis in person 40% were alone. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Outcomes & Safety, Surgical Research / 14.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Tanya L. Zakrison, MHSc MD FRCSC FACS MPH Associate Professor of Surgery University of Miami Miller School of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Over 2 million people in the United States are incarcerated, the highest rate in the entire world.  To date no national statistics on surgical outcomes have been reported in this vulnerable patient population.  We examined 301 medical examiner’s reports from prisoner deaths in Miami-Dade County.  Excluding those with confounding medical conditions such as cirrhosis and cancer, we still found that one in five deaths were being attributed to trauma and reversible surgical diseases.    (more…)
Author Interviews, Pain Research, Surgical Research / 12.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Wayne B. Jonas, MD Clinical Professor of Family Medicine Uniformed Services University and at Georgetown University School of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The search for non-drug approaches to chronic pain is a major recommendation in many recent guidelines for both pain management and reduction in the use of opioids. Surgical and invasive procedures are non-drug approaches often used for pain conditions like back pain and arthritis, so good evidence is needed to determine the safety and efficacy of these procedures. Properly done randomized, placebo controlled trials are the best way (the gold standard) to get that evidence, so we did a thorough evaluation of such research, using standard systematic review and meta-analysis methods. (more…)
Accidents & Violence, Author Interviews, Critical Care - Intensive Care - ICUs, JAMA, Surgical Research / 12.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Adil Haider, MD, MPH, FACS Kessler Director for the Center for Surgery and Public Health Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Deputy Editor of JAMA Surgery MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Firearm-related mortality is a public health issue. However, in the US, due in part to lack of funding, there is not enough research to inform the debate about firearms. The question our group sought to answer was to understand if the presence of a semi-automatic weapon increased the number of victims killed or hurt during an active shooter incident. We chose to focus on these incidents given the availability of an FBI database detailing these active shooter incidents based on a strict definition and the similarities between such incidents that make a comparison valid. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Pain Research, Surgical Research / 09.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: David A. Shaye, M.D., FACS Instructor in Otolaryngology Harvard Medical School  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Cosmetic and functional rhinoplasty (nasal surgery) is the most common procedure we perform and traditionally post operative pain medication includes opioids. In light of the recent opioid epidemic, we wished to investigate if patients pain was being treated over-treated by surgeons. Of 173 Rhinoplasties that we performed, the majority of patients received post operative opioid tablets (an average of 28 tablets).  However 11% of patients did not fill these prescriptions at all, and only 2 of the 178 patients required refills. We believe patients experienced less pain than surgeons anticipated. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cost of Health Care, JAMA, Surgical Research, Technology / 03.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: A robotically assisted surgical system: WikipediaChris Childers, M.D. Division of General Surgery David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA 10833 Le Conte Ave., CHS 72-247 Los Angeles, CA 90095 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The robotic surgical approach has gained significant traction in the U.S. market despite mixed opinions regarding its clinical benefit. A few recent randomized trials have suggested there may be no clinical benefit of the robotic approach for some surgical procedures over the more traditional open or laparoscopic (“minimally-invasive”) approaches. Previous studies have also suggested the robotic approach is very expensive, but until our study, there was no benchmark for the true costs (to the hospital) of using the robotic platform. Our study analyzed financial statements from the main supplier of robotic technology. We found that the use of robotic surgery has increased exponentially over the past decade from approximately 136 thousand procedures in 2008 to 877 thousand procedures in 2017. The majority of these procedures were performed in the United States. While most people think of the robotic approach in urologic and perhaps gynecologic surgery, the fastest growing segment has been general surgery, for procedures such as colorectal resections, hernia repairs and gallbladder removals. In total, over 3 billion dollars was spent by hospitals to acquire and use robotic platforms in 2017 with 2.3 billion dollars in the United States. This equates to nearly $3,600 per procedure performed. (more…)