Robotic surgery can be considered as a “step forward” in laparoscopic surgery. Surgeon does not stand behind the operating table, but controls the intervention using a special console. The image is seen three-dimensionally, what facilitates the view of the surgical field and improves precision. The Da Vinci robots are used widely in surgeries of prostate, kidney, colon, bladder, in the cancer of head and neck, the uterus and appendages, and in tumors of the chest.

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Radiosurgical Gamma Knife is a device used to treat benign and malignant brain tumors as well as some of the other diseases of the nervous system. Gamma Knife (also known as the Leksell Gamma Knife-from the name of one of the originators) was invented in Sweden in the 60s. The principle of the intervention is to deliver a high dose of cobalt radiation concentrated in a small area. Read full text »

Overweight and obesity have become a very big problem over the last two decades. This problem is so significant that the experts of the World Health Organization (WHO) have qualified the obesity as the civilisation disease of the 21st century [1].

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A number of new robotic systems for surgery have appeared in recent years. These developments aim both at research and improvement of clinical practice in robotic surgery.

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Written for www.physiciansweekly.com by Reginald F. Baugh, MD
Professor and Chief, Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
Department of Surgery
University of Toledo Medical Center

Clinicians are often challenged with managing MRSA infections, but the Infectious Diseases Society of America has released new guidelines that provide a framework to help determine how to evaluate and treat individuals with uncomplicated and invasive infections caused by MRSA.

Approximately 530,000 tonsillectomies are performed each year in the United States, making these surgeries the second most routinely performed operation on children. The two most com­mon indications for tonsillectomy are recurrent throat infections and sleep-disordered breathing (SDB). The overall incidence rate of tonsillectomy appears to have significantly increased in the past 35 years, with SDB as the primary indication for surgery.

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Written by:
Christopher D. Still, DO, FACP, FACN
Director, Geisinger Obesity Research Institute
Medical Director, Center for Nutrition and Weight Management
Geisinger Health System

Written for Physician’s Weekly.

Approximately 20% of patients either fail to lose weight or regain weight following bariatric surgery. To reduce this likelihood and to ensure that comorbid conditions are managed appropriately, all patients should receive careful medical follow-up after their surgery. Continue reading

The use of laser in medicine has more than fifty years of history. Currently, laser radiation is used in the following specializations: surgery, dermatology, gynecology, aesthetic medicine and others Read full text »

Kidneys – the filter of our body which is constantly working to ensure the proper composition of the blood by purifying it and removing waste products. They keep their efficiency for a long time even if their cells are very damaged and for that reason in case of pathology it is often too late for the treatment due to the fact that the changes are already very advanced. In these cases, drug treatment often fails and the renal replacement therapy is now limited to dialysis or transplantation. But even these solutions have their disadvantages. Read full text »

As a consequence of an ongoing epidemic of obesity various methods of bariatric surgery are becoming popular. Many patients are recommended gastric bypass (GB), which seems to be the most commonly performed type of procedure and, at the same time, the most effective one. Despite the strong position of gastric bypass as the gold standard in weight loss surgery, mechanisms by which a maintained weight loss is achieved are not exactly understood. According to the new study (1) performed by Imperial College London scientists patients after gastric bypass choose low fat food products, not just because they are recommended to go on a diet, but as a result of an actual change in their food preferences. They simply stop eating high fat food. Read full text »

Prostate cancer is one of the most commonly appearing cancers. 11% of cancers in men are those linked with prostate neoplasm. The disease begins inconspicuously: frequent difficulties with urination that suggest benign prostatic hyperplasia. The development of prostate cancer can lead to death (9% of deaths from cancer. Prostate neoplasm leads to dangerous outbreaks of metastases within the liver, lungs or brain. Recently noticed correlation between infection with XMRV might be associated with the development of prostate cancer, but still the main factors of development are genetic and racial predispositions and a diet rich in saturated fatty acids, protein and cholesterol. That is why every man should carefully observe his body and should not hesitate to contact the physician if having any doubts, before it is too late. Read full text »