surgery

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Major Insurer Nixes Anesthesia Cap After Backlash

Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield had placed time limit on anesthesia coverage during surgery

(Newser) - A major health insurer has nixed a planned policy shift regarding a cap it placed on anesthesia coverage after intense public backlash against the plan. NPR reports on the 180 by Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, which had initially announced it would no longer pay for coverage for anesthesia use...

For $12K, People Are Changing Their Eye Color for Good

Corneal tattooing has gained popularity as a cosmetic surgery, despite the risks

(Newser) - More people are chucking their colored contacts for a more permanent way to change eye color: keratopigmentation. The Wall Street Journal reports that the procedure, also known as corneal tattooing, is on the rise as a cosmetic surgery, even though critics say the risks are too great. It involves using...

Surgical Patients Remain Subject to Complications, Errors

Many of the problems are preventable, researchers say

(Newser) - To assess the frequency of medical errors in surgery, researchers based at Harvard University decided to follow the meticulous methodology of a study conducted in the 1980s—one of the first to examine rates of patient harms during treatment. "We're trying to figure out, have things changed? Have...

Scientists Say They've Invented a Better Suture

Material generates an electric field when stretched

(Newser) - Scientists say a new kind of surgical stitch they have developed is as strong as traditional stitches and turns one downside of sutures into a plus. Too much movement can be a problem with ordinary stitches, but the sutures developed by a team of researchers in China generate an electric...

Widow: Husband Died After Doc Accidentally Removed His Liver

William Bryan was meant to have his spleen removed at Florida hospital, per wife's attorney

(Newser) - The widow of an Alabama man who died after an organ removal procedure now says that the surgeon who was supposed to take out his spleen took out his liver by mistake instead, leading to his death in August. In a Facebook post , Joe Zarzaur, an attorney representing Beverly Bryan...

He Just Got a New Kidney, No Anesthesia or Opioids Needed

John Nicholas underwent an 'awake' transplant surgery at Northwestern: 'Very surreal'

(Newser) - Usually, a kidney transplant patient at Northwestern Memorial Hospital spends two to three days after the procedure recuperating in the Chicago medical center before being sent home. John Nicholas was back in his own bed the next day, partly thanks to surgeons operating on him using an uncommon "awake"...

Merrick Garland Having Surgery, Will Delegate Duties

Justice Department is making the disclosure under new federal guidelines

(Newser) - Attorney General Merrick Garland will undergo back surgery this weekend and delegate his duties to the deputy attorney general during the procedure, the Justice Department said Monday. Garland, 71, will be under general anesthesia during the back procedure on Saturday, which will last about 90 minutes and is "minimally...

Princess of Wales Undergoes a 'Successful' Surgery

Abdominal procedure for unspecified issue may keep Kate Middleton in clinic for up to 2 weeks

(Newser) - The Princess of Wales has been hospitalized for planned abdominal surgery and will remain at the London Clinic for up to two weeks, Kensington Palace said Wednesday. The former Kate Middleton, 42, is expected to return to public duties after Easter, the palace said, per the AP . The surgery has...

Questions Arise Over 'Evolving Situation' With Defense Secretary

Lloyd Austin's hospitalization on Jan. 1 for complications following surgery was kept quiet

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is already home after being hospitalized most of the week—except almost no one knew he'd been hospitalized in the first place. The Pentagon announced Friday that Austin, 70, checked into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on New Year's Day, after he suffered...

Infant Tongue-Cutting Is on the Rise. Should It Be?

The Times investigates surging business of tongue-tie release surgery

(Newser) - A surgical procedure for infants known as "tongue-tie release" is on the rise, though an in-depth story by the New York Times suggests it shouldn't be. The condition occurs when a band of tissue connects the tip of the tongue to the bottom of the mouth. Detaching the...

Doctors Are Learning a Risky Procedure on YouTube
A Risky Hernia Procedure
Is Gaining Popularity
longform

A Risky Hernia Procedure Is Gaining Popularity

'New York Times' takes a in-depth look at component separation

(Newser) - Some doctors are learning how to perform a complicated and risky medical procedure that has recently gained popularity by watching online videos or attending quick trainings. And the New York Times reports that in a growing number of cases, patients are being left painfully disfigured after going under the knife....

Sophia Loren, 89, Takes a Fall at Her Swiss Home

Movie legend is now recuperating after surgery for a leg fracture 'went very well'

(Newser) - Film legend Sophia Loren is recovering from successful surgery for a leg fracture after she fell in her Switzerland home, an agent for the 89-year-old Italian actor said Monday. Agent Andrea Giusti said in an email that Loren fell in a bathroom on Sunday and that the surgery was performed...

Dinner Plate-Sized Surgical Device Left in Woman's Belly
She Griped of Pain for Over a
Year. Then, a Surprising Find
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

She Griped of Pain for Over a Year. Then, a Surprising Find

Dinner plate-sized surgical device was left in New Zealand woman's belly after C-section in 2020

(Newser) - A New Zealand woman who gave birth by cesarean section in 2020 lived for 18 months with a surgical device "about the size of a dinner plate" concealed in her abdomen, according to a report released Monday. The unnamed woman in her 20s complained of chronic pain in the...

Patients of Female Surgeons Tend to Have Better Outcomes
Female Surgeons Take
Longer, With Better Results
NEW STUDY

Female Surgeons Take Longer, With Better Results

2 large studies find that patients of male surgeons have more complications

(Newser) - Two studies involving more than a million patients in Canada and Sweden arrived at the same conclusion: Patients operated on by female surgeons have better outcomes than those operated on by men. The studies found that the difference was small but consistent, even when factors like case complexity were taken...

Pope Francis Goes Under the Knife
Pope Francis'
Surgery Was
Successful
UPDATED

Pope Francis' Surgery Was Successful

Surgeon says Francis cracked joke afterward

(Newser) - Pope Francis underwent successful surgery Wednesday to remove intestinal scar tissue and repair a hernia in his abdominal wall. The Vatican said there were no complications during the three-hour surgery, which required the 86-year-old to be under general anesthesia, the AP reports. The pontiff is expected to remain at Rome’...

Bo Knows Hiccups, a Little Too Well
Bo Knows Hiccups,
a Little Too Well

Bo Knows Hiccups, a Little Too Well

Elite retired NFL, MLB athlete, who's had the condition for nearly a year, is getting surgery

(Newser) - We all know how annoying it is to be stricken with a bout of hiccups, but few of us can attest to what it's like when those spasms go on for almost a full year. Elite athlete Bo Jackson now falls in the latter group, and he's "...

That's an Unexploded Grenade Lodged Near Ukrainian's Heart
Ukrainian Soldier's Case 'Will
Go Down in Medical Textbooks'
in case you missed it

Ukrainian Soldier's Case 'Will Go Down in Medical Textbooks'

Unexploded grenade successfully removed from soldier's chest, military says

(Newser) - Imagine living with an unexploded grenade, at risk of going off at any moment, lodged just below your heart. That was the reality for a Ukrainian soldier until recently. Doctors succeeded in removing the explosive from the chest of the man in his late 20s during surgery overseen by soldiers,...

Plastic Surgeon Charged After Young Patient's Death

Emmalyn Nguyen suffered cardiac arrest during surgery, died 14 months later

(Newser) - Update: A plastic surgeon has been arrested in Colorado after an 18-year-old patient died following breast augmentation surgery. Emmalyn Nguyen died 14 months after the August 2019 surgery left her in a vegetative state. After a "lengthy criminal investigation," the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office said it issued...

Surgeon Fined for Amputating Wrong Leg

Austrian surgeon blamed a problem with the chain of command

(Newser) - A surgeon in Austria who removed the wrong leg from an elderly patient earlier this year in what the hospital called a "tragic mistake" has been fined the equivalent of around $3,000, with half of it suspended. A court found the 43-year-old surgeon guilty of gross negligence, the...

Doctor Fined for Sleeping Through Surgery
Doctor Sleeps
Through Surgery

Doctor Sleeps Through Surgery

Boston surgeon ate in his car, then nodded off

(Newser) - A wait for a doctor can be long, but it was especially painful for a patient needing emergency ankle surgery at Boston Medical Center. The patient had been taken into an operating room by two doctors, one of whom then said he had to eat first. He left, went to...

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