Search for: "appendicitis" - 63 articles found

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News • Anatomy research

Why the appendix might not be so useless after all

Long considered an unnecessary organ, the appendix is now the focus of several studies that aim to better understand its role. Present in many mammals, including humans, it appears to have developed at least 16 times over the course of the evolutionary history of mammals, suggesting that its function must confer a positive selective advantage on those that have it. A new study carried out by…

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Article • Blood poisoning

Exploring the importance and challenges of early sepsis diagnosis

On the occasion of this year's World Sepsis Day, we spoke with Elena Sukhacheva, Ph.D., director of medical and scientific affairs at Beckman Coulter, about the status quo and outlook on sepsis diagnostics. With the severity of sepsis symptoms, it’s easy to comprehend why it is invaluable to diagnose this disease properly and in a timely manner. Dr Sukhacheva takes an in-depth look at…

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Article • Paediatric health risks

Children in the COVID-19 pandemic: Between fear and care

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected children with direct impacts of the infection as well as on them leading normal lives. Schooling, play and vaccinations are among issues that can affect children’s health. Delay in taking paediatric patients to the emergency room (ER) has also had a negative impact, for example late treatment of acute appendicitis. Two experts from Spain tackled these topics…

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News • Rebuttal

EDQM responses to concern on its Blood Guide

On May, 29th 2020, European Hospital published a press release from the Plasma Protein Therapeutics Association (PPTA). In that release, the PPTA expressed their concerns about the recommendations contained in the 20th version of Blood Guide of The European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and Healthcare (EDQM). Read here the EDQM’s rebuttal letter to the PPTA.

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News • False appendicitis alarm

Study reveals many unnecessary appendix surgeries in children

Surgery for appendicitis is the most common emergency operation in children. A new study has found that the UK has the highest reported national rate of ‘normal appendicectomy,’ where children undergo surgery for suspected appendicitis but laboratory examination of the removed appendix finds it to be normal. Although most children who are misdiagnosed as having appendicitis improve without…

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Article • Minimally-invasive

Endoscopy: Through the keyhole or open surgery?

Physicians in Germany remove around 200,000 gall bladders annually, mostly by minimally invasive surgery, the so-called keyhole surgery. While gall bladders and appendices can be removed through a tiny aperture in the body, large tumours cannot. Patients also profit from the keyhole technique with joint and bone problems in the knee, shoulder or elbow. Advantages: small cuts, less blood loss,…

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Sponsored • Point-of-care

Improving the safety and quality of pediatric emergency care with POC ultrasound

Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) has become an important adjunct to clinical diagnosis and procedural guidance in the Pediatric Emergency Department (PED), supported by literature demonstrating that its use can improve patient safety and expedite life-saving care. POCUS further helps to reduce costs and children’s exposure to ionizing radiation. Not only is POCUS ideally suited for…

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Interview • Cardiac imaging on ICE

The benefits of Intracardiac echocardiography

Intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) is an increasingly important guiding tool for structural heart disease interventions – without general anaesthesia. José Ribeiro, who works in the thorax and circulation unit at Gaia Hospital Centre, Portugal, who has worked with this technology for the past two years, explained its benefits and limitations.

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Interview • Challenging, but rewarding

Emergency radiology advances – despite shortages and low recognition

Emergency radiology is no longer a babbling field; professionalisation will bring more recognition to this young subspecialty, according to Elizabeth Dick, a London-based consultant, who will coordinate part of the new European Diploma in Emergency Radiology (EDER), the European Society of Radiology’s new tool. We interviewed the radiologist, who spoke of her daily practice and why she loves…

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News • Uncommon causes

Abdominal pain? Try thinking outside the box

Early detection of mesenteric ischemia increases treatment options and the possibility of a full recovery, but the condition’s rarity may lead to a delay in diagnosis while more common causes of abdominal pain are explored. An article in the February 2018 issue of Critical Care Nurse (CCN) aims to heighten nurses’ knowledge of mesenteric ischemia and infarction (MI), which are infrequent but…

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News • Risk assessment

Can a colonoscopy cause appendicitis?

Although the incidence of appendicitis in the United States has been in decline for many years, the condition still affects approximately seven percent of Americans annually. A research team at the UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences, found that there is evidence to suggest that a colonoscopy can “prompt” appendicitis up to one week after the procedure, in at least certain patients.

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Article • Emergency medicine

Ultrasound can save lives

‘Ultrasound plays a key role in diagnosis and monitoring of treatment in the A&E department,’ emphasises Professor Joseph Osterwalder, Medical Director of the Cantonal Hospital in Appenzell, Switzerland. ‘I cannot imagine emergency medicine without ultrasound.’

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Article • Infections

Call to re-evaluate sepsis screening tool

New criteria used as an initial screening tool in the emergency department need to be re-evaluated, a specialised surgeon highlighted in a dedicated talk during the Spanish national congress of surgery this November.

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Sponsored • compact & life saving

Point-of-care ultrasound helps enhance medical care in Africa

In Western society, access to high quality medical treatment is frequently taken for granted. Elsewhere, the reality is that many less developed countries struggle to provide healthcare services. Zanzibar has taken a unique approach to resolving this issue, working closely with the charity Health Improvement Project Zanzibar (HIPZ) to improve its hospital services. Dr Ru MacDonagh, founder of…

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Interview • Endoscopic

NOTES – An emerging trans-disciplinary treatment

Jose Ramon Armengol-Miro has directed the World Institute for Digestive Endoscopy Research (WIDER) since 2007. There, he leads the investigation of Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery (NOTES). The technique was introduced to gastrointestinal endoscopy over ten years ago. Speaking with European Hospital the expert assessed its use and value today.

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Altering the ‘flavor’ of humans could help fight Malaria

A new study by Johns Hopkins researchers suggests that a specialized area of the mosquito brain mixes tastes with smells to create unique and preferred flavors. The findings advance the possibility, they say, of identifying a substance that makes “human flavor” repulsive to the malaria-bearing species of the mosquitoes, so instead of feasting on us, they keep the disease to themselves,…

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Article • Research

Device trial could benefit stroke patients

In the fast-evolving field of left atrial appendage closure a new study has delivered data that could benefit thousands of patients at risk of stroke. Led by Professor Martin Bergmann, head of Interventional Cardiology at Cardiologicum Hamburg in Germany, the EWOLUTION study was conducted to evaluate the Watchman Left Atrial Appendage (LAA) closure device from manufacturer Boston Scientific.

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Article • STAR

Robot outperforms standard surgery techniques

Intelligent robots supervised by surgeons could help remove human error from the operating room. Dr. Peter C. Kim, Vice President and Associate Surgeon-in-Chief at Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation at Children's National Health System (CNSH) in Washington, D.C., and his colleagues designed and programmed “Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot”, or simply STAR, to successfully…

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News • “Jumping Gene” Mystery

Grabbing a parasite by the tail

Deep within your DNA, a tiny parasite lurks, waiting to pounce from its perch and land in the middle of an unsuspecting healthy gene. If it succeeds, it can make you sick. Like a jungle cat, this parasite sports a long tail. But until now, little was known about what role that tail plays in this dangerous jumping. Now, scientists report that without a tail, this parasitic gene can’t jump…

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Article • Influential innovations

Unfolding new vistas for MRI, PET and PET/CT

The importance of cardiac imaging is increasing, but nuclear medicine procedures are by no means obsolete, observes Okan Ekinci, during our EH interview with the Siemens Vice President for Healthcare Consulting & Clinical Affairs about the latest innovations for cardiology.

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Article • Trauma Imaging

From head to toe, not forgetting the face

The number of radiological accident and emergency examinations had doubled within five years because many accident and emergency (A&E) patients are given CT scans even before having a comprehensive clinical examination. Report: Michael Krassnitzer

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European certification for medical products

The recent scandal around faulty breast implants from France started it, first the talk about the entire medical devices industry, and then progression towards the monitoring and licensing of products. Report: Brigitte Dinkloh

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51 live scanning sessions at WFUMB

Although space limitations have reduced the number of live scanning sessions at past World Ultrasound Congresses, this year greater space at the Vienna venue has enabled the organisation of 51 live scanning sessions by Dr Christian Aiginger, consultant internist at the St. Josef Hospital Vienna Auhof, with Dr Helmut Prosch, Consultant at the Department of General Radiology and Paediatric…

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And then there was light!

Pin-sharp outlines instead of a flurry of speckles, three-dimensional bodies instead of two-dimensional cross sections: Modern ultrasound scanners now deliver images of a quality that would have been inconceivable just a few years ago. This new generation scanners have made ultrasound diagnostics more reliable, reproducible and much easier to use for doctors

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40 years of MEDICA

When we organised the first Diagnostic Week in Karlsruhe, in 1969, no one could have known that this event would one day turn into the annual highlight in the world of medicine, reflected Dr Wolfgang Albath, laboratory medicine pioneer and one of the founding fathers of MEDICA the world`s largest medical trade show. Initially planned as a moving exhibition, the show has been based in…

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Do you know the right financing strategy for your hospital?

Since the beginning of the global economic crisis the question of whether and how much hospital managers should invest in updating medical technology has become more complicated. Fear of making the wrong decisions and insecurity around future budgets make it even more important to find trustworthy and competent financial solutions shaped to the specific needs of individual hospitals. VR Medico,…

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Scanning children

A growing number of Dutch hospital doctors now favour ultrasound (US) over CT scans to detect appendicitis in children. This trend has re-opened the US v. CT debate over which diagnostic method is more effective, cost-effective and safest for a child's longer-term health needs.

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20 years of MIS

Scientific studies confirm that after 20 years of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) most of these operations have advantages over the equivalent, conventional surgical procedures.

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Article • Procedure update

Endoscopy in Lithuania

The well-known Whipple procedure, or pancreaticduodenectomy, recently underwent a transformation due to the skills of Nerijus Kaselis MD, Head of Abdominal and Endoscopic Surgery at Klaipeda District Hospital.

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How much IT does healthcare really need?

The question is increasingly significant. Information technology (IT) has thrust itself into all corners of life — some argue for better, some for worse, largely because efficient electronic networking cannot happen overnight. Thus gatherings to share experiences are valuable, as seen in the Berliner Klinik-IT Forum, a two-day event in January, supported by the Charité Berlin. The theme was:…

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Appendicitis complicated by chickenpox

Surgeons Sergey V Stonogin, specialist in infectious cases, Eugeny V Dvorovenko, Head of Emergency Surgery, and Vladimir A Chaplin, endoscopy specialist - report on results from their study to assess the most effective, safe combination of antibiotics to treat patients with acute appendicitis complicated by chickenpox

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