Journal of the American College of Surgeons
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The role of obesity as a risk factor after carotid endarterectomy is not well-described. We undertook a study of the association of obesity with 30-day outcomes after carotid endarterectomy. ⋯ Obesity is an independent risk factor for death and cardiac complications after carotid endarterectomy. Surgeons should consider this when evaluating the risks and benefits of carotid endarterectomy in obese patients. Carotid artery stenting was not assessed, and future studies are needed to examine its role in management of obese patients.
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The American Board of Surgery has emphasized that palliative care education should be included in surgical training. The few formal curricula for teaching palliative care, although effective, are time-intensive and have low longitudinal participation rates. The aim of this project was to design a feasible and effective palliative care intervention for general surgery residency training. ⋯ A brief, interactive workshop is effective in changing general surgery residents' attitudes toward and knowledge of palliative care. The results demonstrate that a single teaching session is a useful intervention.
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Component separation (CS) is an effective technique for reconstructing complex abdominal wall defects. Violation of the rectus abdominis complex is considered a contraindication for CS, but we hypothesized that patients have similar outcomes with or without rectus complex violation. ⋯ CS surgical outcomes were similar whether or not the rectus complex was violated. To our knowledge, this study is the first to evaluate the effects of rectus violation on surgical outcomes in CS patients. Surgeons should not routinely avoid CS when the rectus complex is violated.
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Biography Historical Article
Two tall poppies and the discovery of Helicobacter pylori.