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Duke Surgery Patients Benefit From Acupuncture During Anesthesia

Duke University Medical Center investigators have comprehensively characterized for the first time the perioperative changes in cardiac substrate utilization following cardiac surgery in humans. A mass-spectrometry metabolomics approach was used on paired arterial and coronary sinus samples collected before and after application of aortic cross-clamp to provide a detailed metabolic account of the consequences of myocardial ischemia-reperfusion. MORE »

The Postoperative Surgical Heart is Like an Engine Out of Fuel

Surgery patients at Duke University Medical Center are finding that more needles may actually relieve pain after surgery. Doctors say using the centuriesold practice of acupuncture along with anesthesia speeds recovery and reduces discomfort in patients. Since being diagnosed with early stage breast cancer two years ago, Lisa Lee of Dunn has had several surgical procedures. MORE »

Bennett-Guerrero Featured on PBS/NOVA Show

Our very own Elliott Bennett-Guerrero, MD was featured on the April edition of PBS’s NOVA program. The episode, “Doctors’ Diaries,” a two-part special in which he is one of seven doctors interviewed, explore their lives from medical school through midlife. The show aired Tuesday, April 7th and 14th at 8:00 pm est. For more information regarding this show, please visit: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/doctors/about.html. MORE »

Cellular Target May Prove Useful in Treating Deadly Brain Tumors

Duke University Medical Center researchers have identified a receptor on the surface of cells that may give them another avenue of attack against gliolastoma, the most common and most deadly type of brain cancer. MORE »

Acupuncture Offers Headache Relief Over Medication

Acupuncture is more effective than medication in reducing the severity and frequency of chronic headaches, according to a new analysis conducted by Duke University Medical Center researchers. MORE »

VITAL SIGNS: AGING; Scuba Diving Forever. Almost.

Older scuba divers who are wondering whether it is time to hang up their flippers can take heart: as long as they are in good general condition, a new study reports, there is no reason to give up the activity. MORE »

Study Confirms Cardiac Surgery Drug Increases Death Rate

DURHAM, NC - The largest study to date of a controversial cardiac  surgery drug shows it increases death rates and damages kidney function, according Duke University Medical Center researchers.   Aprotinin, a drug used to limit bleeding, was temporarily suspended from marketing in the U.S. in November 2007 after a small Canadian studywas stopped because similar findings were discovered. The drug, Trasylol, is manufactured by Baylor AG. MORE »

Medical Students Using Games to Practice

DURHAM (WTVD) - Medical students and healthcare professionals at Duke University are playing a lot of video games lately.   They’re among the first in the country to use a virtual game to train for real patients. It’s the same type of technology the Army used to train soldiers. MORE » (Copyright ©2008 WTVD-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

Older Surgical Patients at Greater Risk for Developing Cognitive Problems

DURHAM, N.C. – Patients over the age of 60 who have elective surgeries such as joint replacements, hysterectomies and other non-emergency, inpatient procedures, are at an increased risk for longterm cognitive problems, according to a new study led by Duke University Medical Center researchers. The study also found that elderly patients who developed these postoperative cognitive problems were more likely to die in the first year after surgery. MORE »

Acupuncture Reduces Pain, Need for Opioids after Surgery

DURHAM, N.C. – Using acupuncture before and during surgery significantly reduces the level of pain and the amount of potent painkillers needed by patients after the surgery is over, according to Duke University Medical Center anesthesiologists who combined data from 15 small randomized acupuncture clinical trials. MORE »

Nicotine Patch Decreases Post-Surgical Pain

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — The use of a nicotine patch - successfully used to help many smokers decrease their dependency on nicotine - was shown to reduce pain in men after prostate removal surgery in a new anesthesiology study. While morphine and other opioids (narcotics) remain the most commonly prescribed post-operative pain medications, many patients fear the side effects from these drugs, which can include drowsiness, nausea, slowed breathing, vomiting, constipation, itching and dependence. MORE »

Duke's Surplus Supports Ugandan Medicine - Update

A team of 28 Duke University medical personnel, including Duke anesthesiologists: David MacLeod MD and Rebecca Schroeder, MD; and nurse anesthetists: Jennifer Burd, Jim “Tembo” Temo, David Gleason and Meredith Muncy returned in late August from a twelve day volunteer trip to Uganda, Africa, where they unpacked, plugged in and set-up nearly $1 million worth of surplus Duke medical equipment that had been shipped abroad, including several modern anesthesia machines and two operating microscopes. MORE »

Duke's New Surplus Program Helps Revitalize Neurosurgery in Kampala

When Duke neurosurgeon Michael Haglund, M.D., Ph.D., visited New Mulago Hospital in Kampala, Uganda last January, he was astounded at what he saw. “This national hospital has 1500 beds and only one ventilator,” he says. “When they anesthetize patients, they have to handbag – have people squeezing a bag of oxygen to help a person breath. MORE »

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