Doctors in Dayton, Ohio believe they may have found a minimally invasive alternative to gastric bypass surgery for the millions of Americans who are morbidly obese. Physicians at Dayton Interventional Radiology recently performed the first gastric artery embolization procedure as part of their GET LEAN (Gastric Artery Embolization Trial for Lessening Appetite Nonsurgically) study. According to Outpatient Surgery Magazine, gastric artery embolization is a procedure that uses a small catheter to inject particles tinier than a grain of sand into the left gastric artery to block blood flow to the tiny branches of the artery. The catheter may be introduced into the groin or wrist and directed to the left gastric artery that supplies blood to the upper stomach. The goal of this embolization is to decrease the levels of the hormone ghrelin, which is responsible for appetite. While GET LEAN is the first human study on gastric artery embolization in the United States, a 2013 study on the procedure was conducted in the former Soviet Union on five patients who lost an average of 45 pounds in six months. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University and Duke University have also studied the procedure on animals and found significant weight loss and hormone suppression. Read the full story to learn more about this experimental procedure.

New research published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation suggests that anesthesia causes long-term memory loss in patients. Beverly Orser, MD, PhD, FRCPC, an instructor of anesthesiology and physiology at the University of Toronto, conducted the study on lab mice. The mice received Etomidate 8 mg/kg for 20 minutes and showed increased activity in their memory loss receptors for a week. The potential impact to patients, according to Orser, could last anywhere from days to months after surgery when patients need to remember post-op care instructions. In a recent article in Outpatient Surgery Magazine, Orser says the findings of her study are particularly important for high-risk patients who may need additional education and support to recover from the potential impact of post-op memory loss. In her study, Orser says “postoperative cognitive deficits are present in approximately 37% of young adults and 41% of elderly patients at hospital discharge and in 6% of young adults and 13% of elderly patients at 3 months after surgery. These deficits are associated with poor patient outcomes, including reduced quality of life, loss of independence, and increased mortality.” Learn more by reading the full study.

Recently, Kendal Gapinski of Outpatient Surgery Magazine published an article about the positive effects of “prehabilitation” programs for patients about to undergo surgery. These were the findings of a study conducted at McGill University in Montreal, the results of which were recently published in November’s issue of Anesthesiology. The study consisted of 77 colorectal cancer patients who were undergoing surgery. Half were given 25 days of “prehab” therapy consisting of 50 minutes of exercise 3 days a week, protein supplements and nutritional counseling, and anxiety-reducing psychological exercises. These patients had significantly better recovery times than the patients who were not given these pre-surgery instructions. Learn more by reading the full article here.