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What's NewSurgery Fall Symposium Sept. 29-30 2006
Helicopter Service Celebrates 20 Years and 20,000 Missions University Hospital 's Staff for Life Helicopter Service was honored during a reception on Thursday, December 13. The reception begins a yearlong celebration of 20 years of service and more than 20,000 missions. During the reception, MU Chancellor Richard Wallace announced the trauma program at University Hospital will be named after professor emeritus Frank Mitchell, MD, who is considered the father of the program. On November 24, 1982, MU's Staff for Life helicopter service became the 54th air medical program in the United States and only the third in Missouri. Today, through joint management by University Hospital and affiliate Rocky Mountain Helicopters, The Staff for Life Helicopter Service includes two helicopters and flies on average two missions daily. University Hospital's Trauma Center is the only Level I Trauma Center in mid-Missouri and one of only five in the state. More than 25,000 patients are treated in its emergency room each year. The trauma team is led by a Board-certified surgeon with fellowship training in trauma care and includes a team of trauma surgeons trained in the operative and nonoperative care of the trauma patient, an orthopedic traumatologist with fellowship training in the surgical repair of fractures and a team of Board-certified pediatric surgeons accredited in critical care. The trauma program is recognized by the Missouri Department of Health and the American College of Surgeons. University of Missouri Health Care Physician Performs New Laparoscopic Procedure Scott Troxel, M.D., assistant professor of urology at the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine, now offers laparoscopic surgery for patients with prostate cancer. Called a laparoscopic prostatectomy, the surgery is done as part of overall treatment plans for men facing prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed non-skin cancer in the United States, according to the Prostate Cancer Foundation. “Laparoscopic prostatectomy is performed through four tiny incisions of about one centimeter each,” said Troxel. “Compared to traditional open surgery, patients have shorter hospital stays, less risk of blood loss and shorter recovery times with the laparoscopic procedure because of the smaller incisions.” For laparoscopic prostate surgery, a surgeon makes four small incisions in the abdomen. The abdominal cavity is filled with carbon dioxide gas to lift the abdominal wall, providing a work space for the surgeon. The surgeon is then guided by the laparoscope, which transmits a picture of the prostate onto a video monitor. The surgery is then completed using instruments through the remaining small incisions. “Patients who undergo this surgery can usually resume normal daily activity in a week,” said Troxel. “Clinical outcomes with the laparoscopic technique are equivalent to those reported with traditional prostatectomies, which means the cancer cure rate is the same.” The University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine was the first publicly supported medical school west of the Mississippi. Today, MU’s medical school is comprised of more than 500 faculty physicians and scientists. The medical school is the primary source of physicians practicing in Missouri. It has received national and international recognition for all aspects of its patient care, research and teaching missions. Medical school alumni include the founder of the Mayo Clinic, William Mayo and Fred Robbins, Nobel Prize winner for the polio vaccine. Procedure Alleviates Suffering from Urinary Incontinence Urinary incontinence is underreported by patients and underdiagnosed by health care providers. Risk factors for urinary incontinence include neurologic impairment and immobility. Although the condition can be found in anyone, those who are most likely to have incontinence are the elderly, patients who have undergone abdominal surgery and women who are pregnant, have had multiple births and those who are menopausal. There are many types of treatment to correlate with the varying forms of incontinence. A new surgical procedure offered at MU Health Care provides an alternative therapy for those who must rely on medication for relief. "It's not just for those patients who want to come off their medication," said Durwood Neal Jr, MD, professor and chief of the Division of Urology. "For the 20 percent of patients whose medication either doesn't work or produces side effects, the new surgical treatment is a wonderful option." The procedure involves implanting an electrode into the lower back that will act like a bladder pacemaker. This electrode renormalizes the bladder by sending a sensory signal to the brain, giving the individual enough time to realize the bladder is nearing capacity. The Interstim device is approximately the size of a pager and about half as thick. Most procedures are now done on an outpatient basis and achieve a 70 to 90 percent sustained success rate. Neal noted that "for many of my patients, the Interstim renovates their lives so they can go out and enjoy themselves again." |
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