SurgeXperiences is a biweekly round-up of the latest happenings in the surgical blogosphere. Each edition is written by a different website, and this time we have the privilege of playing host. So please, sit back, enjoy, and don’t forget to tip your server on the way out. Let’s get to it.

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We reported a few weeks back on two studies in the New England Journal of Medicine claiming to offer definitive proof that trasylol, the once-popular antifibrinolytic drug used in tons of cardiac procedures, significantly increased the risk of post-operative MI and renal failure. 
An even newer report by Pagano and colleagues in the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular […]

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A recent article details several new features being developed for the da Vinci robot by researchers at the Imperial College of London. In other news, machines are rapidly overtaking man.

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We have recently started to use the DUR-D ureteroscope for ureteroscopy, and it has provided us a detailed view of the ureters and kidneys like we have never seen before. I had heard, however, that the DUR-D does not do well in a bloody field, and today we had our first case using the DUR-D […]

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In what will come as news to almost no one, researchers have found that “after hours” procedures, defined as those beginning after 4PM, are associated with higher rates of complications than procedures starting between 7AM-4PM, even after excluding emergency cases and controlling for patient and procedure conditions.

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Drs. Mark Talamini and Santiago Horgan at UC San Diego announced today that they have successfully performed the first NOTES appendectomy in the United States. Although details are still forthcoming, the press release notes that the team used USGI Medical’s EndoSurgical system. The patient was quoted as saying, “A day after surgery, I have a little […]

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There is an amazing amount of hype and bad data surrounding the use of hemostatic and sealing agents. Despite thousands of manuscripts published on the various glues, pastes and potions currently being hawked, there is a major dearth of solid information.

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On March 30th, OpNotes will host the 18th edition of surgeXperiences, a biweekly round-up of the latest musings and happenings in the surgical blogosphere. So if you read (or, for that matter, write) a particularly interesting post, please wing it our way and we’ll consider it for inclusion. In the meanwhile, why not check out […]

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Lasik has been widely touted as an uncomplicated outpatient procedure that gives patients perfect vision without corrective lenses. Although that may largely be true, many now argue that surgeons are taking the safety claims a little too far. An article appearing in the New York Times, for example, states that surgeons significantly understate the potential […]

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A disturbing new report has revealed that hackers can gain wireless control of implanted cardiac defibrillators and then turn them off or, worse, deliver unneeded electric shocks. I mean, stealing our credit numbers is one thing, but this is just mean.

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