Medical/Surgical Care Complications & Dangers

About 40,000 patients of the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas are being urged to get tested for bloodborne diseases like hepatitis and HIV. It is reported that anesthesiologists exposed patients to infection by using multiple-dose vials of medications and re-using syringes between individuals.

Patients were exposed to these unsafe injections between March 2004 and January 2008. So far, doctors have found six acute cases of hepatitis C in patients from the center.

HealthGrades has released its 2008 rankings of America’s 50 Best Hospitals -- hospitals that have demonstrated superior clinical outcomes for the most consecutive years. Hospitals cannot apply for this independent analysis, and they cannot opt-in or out of being rated.

To identify the top hospitals for 2008, HealthGrades researchers analyzed approximately 100 million hospitalization records from nearly 5,000 hospitals, from the years 1999 to 2006.

Do your kidneys ever die, independently of the rest of your body? Yes, and it happens frequently. It is estimated that 26 million people in America have kidneys which are dying (or chronic kidney failure). This is almost 13% of all Americans. This number represents a significant increase over the past 10 years. It is anticipated that the number of people with diseased kidneys will continue to rise in the future: The data system predicts that by 2020 nearly 785,000 people will be receiving treatment for kidney failure, costing $53.6 billion.

Your liver is one of the most important organs in your body, and the largest in your abdomen. Its reddish color is due to its ability to contain a pint of blood at any one time. Every time we eat, breathe, drink or absorb anything, the liver is responsible for detoxifying, integrating, secreting, storing, digesting and many other processes to provide a homeostasis or balance to the rest of your body.

No muss, no fuss, no bother: gall bladder removed through the vagina. After making progress in maximally invasive surgery, we now have arrived at a day where surgery is painless and blood-less. Removing or performing surgery on internal organs through natural pathways is new, but hardly a trend. True, the surgery leaves no scar and no post-op surgical pain. However, in so doing, the vagina has been surgically cut. It may not repair well, leaving painful internal scar tissue in the future. It may even rip open, or perforate. When an organ perforates, it usually leads to serious complications, including death. Additionally, the body is now open for another area of infection.

Have you ever tried to pronounce the name of the medications you take? With such names as Ezetimide, Irbesartan, and Acetaminophen. Who among us is so skilled in linguistics that we can pronounce these foreign-sounding names? Yet, these are all very common medications which are taken for cholesterol, blood pressure, and diabetic problems. So how can we remember, when we can’t pronounce? In a recent study, 50% of outpatients could not remember their medications. When a lower literacy level was reviewed, the number jumped to 65%. No doubt, a problematic situation exists.

Did you realize that within a very small section of skin, you have various nerve cells. Some cells only ‘light up’ or work when you apply pressure. Some are sensitive to temperature. Some are sensitive only to pain. The nerve cells which are sensitive to pain are called nociceptor cells.

Currently, no drug works directly on nociceptor cells; but on nerve pathways which lead to the nociceptor cells. Or a drug may work on all the different types of cells, not solely nociceptor pain cells. Or a drug may totally anesthetize you, in which case you are paralyzed, unconscious, and pain free.

1.5 Million medication errors occur annually. Some of those errors are caused by the labeling process itself.

How many times have you gone to take your evening medication, and been confused by an array of bottles which look just a like, and names of medications hard to discern (or if you can find the name of the medication, the font size is too small to read).

All material for patient education should be a size 12 font. Otherwise, even with glasses, many people will not be able to read the information.

The patient on the operating table is having brain surgery. As currently, he has become bored; he is also checking his e-mail. A picture out of sci-fi? No, not at all. Many craniotomy’s (brain surgery) are now performed while the patient is awake. It is preferred that the patient is awake.

In the above scenario, the patient had a glioblastoma (deadly cancerous tumor in brain). As the patient was awake, the surgeon could keep cutting out the tumor without damaging critical brain mass.

While the World Health Organization strives to eliminate genital mutiliation in underdeveloped countries, who is 'minding the store' in America.

Seems vaginal cosmetic surgery has become an obsession, as women become more aware of how their vagina looks. Bikini waxes, small G-string bikinis, and a spouse's desire are all part of why women want their vagina's to be tighter, their G-spot plumper, and their labia lips smaller.