Penn Medicine News Blog Archive: Surgery

Can sleeping actually make you MORE tired? For many patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), they awake each morning thinking they had a full night’s rest, only to feel exhausted and unfocused day after day. This counterintuitive situation occurs because OSA sufferers may wake up dozens of times an hour...

Women who develop breast cancer while they’re young are often searching for answers about the cause for their disease or what they can do to improve their chances of being cured. While an increasing number of large genetic testing panels promise to scrutinize their DNA to uncover clues, a team of researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine and the Abramson Cancer Center has found that those powerful tests tend to produce more questions than they answer.

When news broke last July of the American Society for Clinical Oncology’s recommendation against PSA screening in many groups of men, Alan J. Wein, MD, professor and chief director, Division of Urology, shared his insight for the Penn Medicine News Blog. Wein noted that the test is worthwhile for some...

Cover image via TIME.com This week’s TIME magazine makes an eye-catching, bold proclamation. HOW TO CURE CANCER, the cover reads, with a subhead previewing the story contained inside: “Yes, it’s now possible – thanks to new cancer dream teams that are delivering better results faster.” Much of that team science...

While most artificial hip joints in use today will last 10-20 years, like all devices, the artificial hip joint – which replaces the natural hip bone with a metal ball and resurfaces the hip socket with a metal shell and plastic liner – wears out over time. For younger patients, this means a second surgery (and maybe even a third) will be required to replace the artificial joint. Fortunately, a rare procedure now being offered by specialists at Penn Medicine provides a long-term alternative for younger patients with chronic hip pain.

Despite their use in approximately 60,000 surgeries per day in the U.S. alone, medical researchers don’t know exactly how anesthetics cause unconsciousness – or what the true long-term impact of their use could be on the brain and the rest of the body. "The development of anesthetic drugs has been...

Whether you indulged on Turkey Day, are watching your calories, or trying to avoid an annual weight gain during the holidays, Thanksgiving can be an important time to stay in control of your health. And the day after Thanksgiving can be a great opportunity to reinvest your energy and set...

In April 2009, Penn patient Elliot Gordon suffered from an aortic dissection, and required almost immediate open-heart surgery. Less than four years later Gordon will attempt to complete the Philadelphia Half-Marathon Sunday.

Two recent multicenter studies by Penn Medicine researchers have explored some of the issues involved in helping patients understand how receiving a destination LVAD will impact end-of-life planning and what is needed from a destination LVAD patient’s caregiver.

Life is full of embarrassing moments. Who among us hasn’t suffered the mild mortification of unknowingly walking around with toilet paper trailing from a shoe? Or an unzipped fly? How many of us know what it’s like to emerge from an underwater dive only to discover that part of our...

Armed with $18 million in funding, a group of Penn Medicine investigators who are a key part of the pancreatic cancer Stand Up to Cancer Dream Team are leading the nation’s most innovative pancreatic cancer research projects, which together have enrolled more than a thousand patients – nearly half the number who are participating in clinical trials for the disease across the board.

The Penn Transplant Institute’s reputation draws patients from across the nation who are waiting for a second chance at life. It is the region’s leader in total number of organ transplants performed; Penn transplant surgeons performed over 400 solid organ transplants during the 2011 fiscal year, including heart, liver, kidney,...

The last thing a patient wants to do after being discharged from outpatient surgery is to try to find an open pharmacy and then wait – in pain -- while a pharmacy fills a prescription. An innovative program in the SurgiCentre at Penn Medicine’s Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine ensures...

Art has been shown to have a calming and healing effect, which makes it a vital presence in a hospital environment. This is especially true in an intensive care unit which can be a frightening experience for both patients and visitors, with all its unfamiliar equipment and sounds. When the...

New research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania indicates that modern techniques used in rhinoplasty are showing excellent improvements in patients’ quality of life and function as compared to older techniques used for the procedure.

Jesse Taylor, MD, assistant professor in Plastic Surgery, is using 3D computer-aided design (CAD) to plan out a surgery to restructure someone's face. Dr. Taylor walks through a recent surgery, one of the most complicated cases he's done, of a patient whose facial structure was significantly impacted by a rare genetic condition called Saethre-Chotzen syndrome (SCS).

New research indicates that in recent years orthopaedic surgeons have seen a dramatic surge in the number of Baby Boomers suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, or injury to the joint – often resulting from increased activities such as marathon running, swimming, or even power walking. According to the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, knee replacements nearly tripled in people ages 45 to 64 between 1997 and 2009. Though still less common in younger patients, current estimates suggest that more than half a million Americans in their 50s have had the procedure. Based on current trends, operations in that age group are expected to increase.

To celebrate February as American Heart Month, the News Blog is highlighting some of the latest heart-centric news and stories from all parts of Penn Medicine. This month marks the five-year anniversary of Penn Medicine’s first implantation of a temporary total artificial heart (TAH) in a patient suffering from end-stage...

Perelman School of Medicine student Dan Hashimoto recently made Penn Medicine proud when he claimed the top spot in the Top Gun Laparoscopic Skills Challenge at the annual Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons (ACS). Hashimoto defeated a chief resident and a third year surgical resident from another...

To celebrate February as American Heart Month, the News Blog is highlighting some of the latest heart-centric news and stories from all parts of Penn Medicine. It may seem thoroughly unromantic, but researchers at Penn Medicine’s Cardiovascular Institute are hoping for some broken hearts this Valentine’s Day. But these broken...