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News, opinions and meeting coverage in surgery.

No Need for Skin Preps to Be Sterile, FDA Told

WASHINGTON -- Requiring that antiseptic skin preparation products be sterile is unnecessary and wouldn't lead to a dramatic drop in infections, speakers told the FDA Wednesday.

FDA to Look at Tainted Skin Preps

Antiseptic skin preparation products can be contaminated by microbes, a problem the FDA will address at an upcoming public hearing.

Recall: Device Sucks Life From Patient

A suction system for collecting surgical waste apparently killed one patient and seriously injured another, prompting its maker to recall it and several related devices, the FDA said.

Device May Cut Re-Excision Rate in Breast Cancer

SAN FRANCISCO -- Re-excision after breast-conserving surgery occurred 50% less often with intraoperative margin assessment by a device that distinguishes cancer cells from normal tissue, results of a randomized study showed.

Low Preop Sodium Raises Mortality Risk

Preoperative hyponatremia significantly increased the risk of 30-day postsurgical mortality, a risk that extended across all subgroups of surgical patients, investigators reported.

Gallbladder Polyp Size Can Guide Treatment

The follow-up strategy for patients with gallbladder polyps should be based on the size of the lesions, which can influence progression and malignancy potential, British researchers advised.

Jesse Jackson, Jr. Responding to Bipolar Therapy

After months of silence from his office about his absence from Congress, the Mayo Clinic has announced that Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., (D-Ill.) is being treated at the facility for bipolar disorder.

Doctors Say 45 Common Tests 'Overused'

Nine specialty groups have listed tests and treatments that are frequently overused, such as antibiotics for sinus attacks and CT scans for low back pain, in the first phase of a long-term project.

Extreme Obesity Adds More Risk in Hysterectomy

AUSTIN, Texas -- Increasingly severe obesity drives up complication rates after hysterectomy, and outcomes continually worsen with rising body mass index, according to results from a study reported here.

Feds Finalize Next Stage of 'Meaningful Use' Guidelines

LAS VEGAS -- Doctors now have an extra nine months to prove to the federal government that they've accomplished the early stages of "meaningful use" of health information technology, National Coordinator for Health IT Farzad Mostashari announced Thursday.

Follow the Money: Pain, Policy, and Profit

When the Federation of State Medical Boards decided it needed to put a model guideline for opioid use into a book, it reached out and touched the makers of opioid drugs to make it happen.

Gastric Ca Survival Rates Down, Chemo Use Up

SAN FRANCISCO -- A decline in survival rates in stage IV gastric cancer coincides with the increased use of chemotherapy rather than radiation and surgery, researchers found.

50-Year-Olds Get New Knees in Record Numbers

During the past three decades there has been a dramatic increase in knee replacement surgeries, particularly among individuals in their 50s, a Finnish study found.

India Emerges as Source for Execution Drugs

Unable to get Pentothal through regular channels, Nebraska prison officials turned to a broker in India so they could execute two convicted murderers.

Post-Ear Tube MRSA Infections Not Serious

Among children with ear infections following tympanostomy tube placement, infections associated with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) did not result in worse outcomes than those caused by other pathogens, a single-center study showed.

Go With the Flow When Treating LAD Stenosis

Medical treatment was as effective as surgery for patients with moderate to severe isolated stenosis in the proximal left anterior descending artery who had fractional flow reserve of 0.80 or greater, according to results from a single-center study.

Anemia Worsens Surgical Outcomes

Patients who are anemic before going into surgery are at greater risk of death and other complications, researchers found.

Colonoscopy Pioneer William Wolff Dead at 94

One of the pioneers of modern colonoscopy, William Wolff, MD, has died at the age of 94.

ASCO GU: Long Learning Curve for Robotic Prostate Removal

ORLANDO -- Three experienced surgeons needed more than 1,600 cases to achieve acceptable outcomes with robotic-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy, data from a retrospective chart review showed.

Give Antibiotics Before C-Section, Group Urges

Women scheduled for cesarean section should be started on antibiotics an hour before delivery, according to new recommendations from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

The Top 10 Medical Advances of the Decade

From genome to hormones, doctors pick the top medical advances of the decade.

Hospital Fined for Wrong-Site Surgery

Rhode Island Hospital, located in Providence, will pay $150,000 and install video cameras in all of its operating rooms after performing its fifth wrong-site surgery since 2007, according to the state's department of health.

HIV-Positive Surgeon Allowed Back into OR

TEL AVIV -- An HIV-infected cardiothoracic surgeon here has been cleared to resume operating without restrictions after a 10-year lookback investigation found no spread of the disease to patients, reported Israeli and CDC investigators.

If the Hairball Is a Human's, the Danger is Great

CHICAGO -- When Rush University physicians operated to remove an abdominal mass from an 18-year-old woman, no one expected to find a 4.5-kilogram trichobezoar, a rare condition, but one that can be fatal.

ASCO: Imatinib (Gleevec) After GIST Surgery Achieves Big Survival Advantage

CHICAGO -- Imatinib (Gleevec) after curative surgery for gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) achieved a 90% two-year recurrence-free survival, investigators reported here.

Some Bariatric Surgery Patients Develop Wernicke's Encephalopathy

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- For a few patients undergoing, weight-loss surgery, a thiamine deficiency may cause memory loss and other neurologic problems, easily correctable when recognized.

FDA Warns About Risks of Throat-Numbing Spray

ROCKVILLE, Md. - The Veterans Health Administration has halted the use of benzocaine sprays to numb mucous membranes in the mouth and throat, prompting the FDA to reissue warnings about the risk of methemoglobinemia.

Corticosteroids Helps Some ICU Patients Off Ventilators Faster

TAPEI, Taiwan - ICU patients with adrenal insufficiency who are on mechanical ventilation are more likely to be successfully weaned off the machine if they first receive hydrocortisone infusions, researchers here have found.

Safety of Delaying Inguinal Hernia Surgery Confirmed

CHICAGO - When inguinal hernia causes minimal pain, surgeons can look elsewhere for work. That's the message that emerged from a randomized trial here.

Short-Term Use of High-Dose Ibuprofen Linked to GI Bleeding

HAMILTON, Ontario - Taking high doses of Advil or Motrin (ibuprofen) even for a few days can significantly increase the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding, researchers reported today.

Husband's Death After Watching Wife's Epidural Leads to Litigation

LOS ANGELES-Just because an expectant father fainted and died of head injuries after watching his wife have an epidural doesn't mean the procedure itself is particularly dangerous.

Feeding By Tube Is Common with Tracheotomy

CLEVELAND-Patients who require a tracheotomy to help them breathe often have trouble swallowing, which cuts their caloric intake. The solution, say experts, is to supplement regular meals with feeding by a nasogastric tube, which is what doctors treating Pope John Paul II have decided to do.

Feeding Tube Replacement Is Fast and Simple

LOUISVILLE-If a federal appeals court in Atlanta orders Terri Schiavo's feeding tube to be replaced, the procedure can be done in less than a minute, says an expert in percutaneous enteral nutrition.