Another successful surgery utilizing the NOTES (Natural Orifice Translumenal Endoscopic Surgery) technique at the UCSD Medical Center has caught the media's attention once again from magazines like BusinessWeek and news stations such as Channel 10.
Click here to read the BusinessWeek article, "Surgery Without the Slicing"
Click here to watch the Channel 10 news report
Click here to read the Science News article, "Appendix Removed Via Mouth; First Such Surgery In U.S."
Click here to read the ABC News article
Click here to read the Local 6 News article
Click here to read the WebMD article
Click here to read the United Press International article, "Appendix removed through mouth"
Click here to read the Newswise Medical News article
One Tiny Incision UCSD Surgeons Perform New Ultra-Minimally Invasive Gallbladder Removal
A pioneering surgery took place at UCSD on September 11 when Drs. Santiago Horgan and Mark A. Talamini removed a patient’s gallbladder using only one tiny incision. It was the first such procedure to be performed in the Southwestern United States.
Dr. Horgan is Director of Minimally Invasive Surgery and Director of the Center for Treatment of Obesity at UCSD. Dr. Talamini is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Surgery.
Drs. Horgan and Talamini used a new, ultra-minimally invasive technique called NOTES, or Natural Orifice Translumenal Endoscopic Surgery. In a NOTES procedure, surgeons insert surgical instruments into the abdomen through a natural orifice, such as the navel or the mouth and esophagus.
In this case, the gallbladder was removed through the patient’s vagina via a small incision in the patient’s navel. The successful surgery was part of a UCSD clinical trial of NOTES techniques.
“This is a very exciting prospect,” said Dr. Talamini. “We are taking minimally invasive surgery one step further in terms of reducing pain, scarring, and recovery time.”
Drs. Talamini and Horgan are among the world’s leaders in refining and testing NOTES techniques. Dr. Horgan, also a Professor of Surgery at the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina, recently performed four groundbreaking NOTES procedures there.
Both surgeons are conducting the UCSD clinical trial of the procedure, which is funded by the new Natural Orifice Surgery Consortium for Assessment and Research (NOSCAR™).
If further studies confirm that NOTES is effective and safe, surgeons may soon offer NOTES surgeries to their patients.
For more information about this pioneering surgery by Drs. Horgan and Talamini, see the UCSD Medical Center news release.
In other NOTES news, the UCSD Department of Surgery and the UCSD Center for the Future of Surgery are presenting the second UCSD hands-on NOTES course in October 2008.
Simulated Patients, Real Surgeries:State-of-the-Art Operating Room Trainingfor Surgeons at UCSD
On the May 10 “Cutting Edge Medicine” segment of ABC’s “Good Morning America” program, cameras followed news reporters into an operating room. Dressed in scrubs, the reporters picked up scalpels and performed surgery on lifelike robotic “patients.”
Television viewers watched as reporters made incisions, removed organs, and monitored the “patients” for signs of complications. When the surgery was over, the “surgeons” received a critique of their skills and their decision making in the operating room.
It was all part of a glimpse into a state-of-the-art surgery training facility in Massachusetts where simulation and other high-technology tools are used to give surgeons as much realistic operating room experience as possible during their training.
UCSD’s own surgical simulation and training center is on its way to accreditation. The new Center for the Future of Surgery at the Medical Center in Hillcrest offers medical simulation training for medical students, interns and residents, and faculty.
"Patient safety in surgery is our focus at UCSD."
Its facilities include operating rooms, a Da Vinci Robotic Surgical System, and a robotic patient whose heart rhythm, pulse, and breathing respond to interventions from doctors-in-training.
“Patient safety in surgery is our focus at UCSD,” says Dr. Mark A. Talamini, Chief of Surgery. “Simulation training prepares a surgeon for the operating room by providing realistic experiences with surgical procedures, tools, and environments. Better preparation means greater safety for the patient.”
The Center for the Future of Surgery is dedicated to educating surgeons and testing new operating room equipment, procedures, and techniques.
Dr. David Easter, Professor of Clinical Surgery, is Director of the UCSD Center for the Future of Surgery/Surgery Research Laboratory. Surgical Director is Dr. Santiago Horgan, Professor of Surgery and Head of the Division of Minimally Invasive Surgery at UCSD.
Doctors train on simulated patients like this one in the Center for the Future of Surgery at UCSD.
A UCSD surgeon at the console of a Da Vinci robotic Surgical System in the Center for the Future of Surgery.
Dr. Talamini Elected New President of SAGES
Dr. Talamini has recently been elected president of SAGES (The Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeon), the largest professional organization of gastrointestinal surgeons in the United States and the leading international society for modern minimally invasive and endoscopic surgery.
To read the the full news release, click here.
Dr. Talamini President-Elect of SAGES
Department of Surgery Chairman Dr. Mark Talamini is President-Elect of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) for 2007-2008. SAGES, one of the most prominent surgical organizations, is a professional society dedicated to bringing minimally invasive surgery to patients around the world.
Before becoming President-Elect, Dr. Talamini served as Treasurer of SAGES.
Dr. Horgan Elected President of MIRA
Dr. Santiago Horgan, Professor of Clinical Surgery and Director of Minimally Invasive Surgery, has been elected President of the new Minimally Invasive Robotics Association (MIRA). MIRA brings together surgeons, engineers, computer scientists and other specialists to present new information about robotic surgical techniques and their clinical outcomes. The 2nd MIRA International Conference was held in New York in January.
Surgeon and Robot: Revolutionary Teamwork at UCSD
Robot-assisted surgery is one of the latest major developments in operating room technology, but how does it work?
In a recent profile on San Diego’s 10News, Dr. Santiago Horgan explained exactly how his eyes and hands work with the mechanical arms and high-resolution cameras of the da Vinci robotic system. Dr. Horgan is Director of Minimally Invasive Surgery at UCSD. The story, available on video from the 10News web site, follows Dr. Horgan as he uses the robotic system to perform a Lap-Band surgery for treatment of obesity.
Displays inside the console show Dr. Horgan detailed close-up views of the operating field from the robot’s cameras.
UCSD surgeons are now using robot-assisted procedures for a variety of surgeries, including gall bladder removal, hernia repair, esophageal surgery, and prostate surgery as well as the Lap-Band procedure.
UCSD’s da Vinci Surgical Systems, one at the UCSD Medical Center in Hillcrest and one at UCSD’s Thornton Hospital in La Jolla, are two of only a small number of robotic surgical systems in southern California.
Click here to view video (select "Windows Media 200k" - to view video)
On Tuesday, October 28, 2008 the UC San Diego Center for Transplantation celebrated the 40th anniversary of the county's first kidney transplant. In celebration, the Center for Transplantation held an appreciation party for patients, families and healthcare team members, Saturday, November 1.
View 10 News interview with Dr. Marquis Hart.
Read UC San Diego Medical Center news release.
Congratulations to Dr. Nguyen for her efforts with new Nobel laureate Dr. Tsien
We would like to extend our congratulations to Dr. Quyen Nguyen for her work with Dr. Tsien. Dr. Nguyen, from the division of Otolaryngology, has been working on research for several years in the laboratory of Dr. Roger Tsien, one of the 2008 Nobel Prize winners in Chemistry for his work on Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP). Read article here.
Visiting ProfessorSurgical Grand Rounds LecturerUCSD Department of Surgery John A. Weigelt, MD, FACSProfessor and Vice ChairmanDepartment of SurgeryChief, Division of Trauma & Critical CareMedical College of WisconsinMilwaukee, Wisconsin Wednesday, February 27, 20087:30 a.m.Moores Cancer CenterGoldberg Auditorium
Visiting ProfessorSurgical Grand Rounds LecturerUCSD Department of Surgery
John A. Weigelt, MD, FACSProfessor and Vice ChairmanDepartment of SurgeryChief, Division of Trauma & Critical CareMedical College of WisconsinMilwaukee, Wisconsin
Wednesday, February 27, 20087:30 a.m.Moores Cancer CenterGoldberg Auditorium
Seven UCSD Surgery Faculty Named to 2007 "Top Doctors" List
This year's list of San Diego's "Top Doctors," as chosen by their peers, includes seven members of the UCSD Department of Surgery faculty:
Michael Albo, MD (Urology) John F. Alksne, MD (Neurosurgery)Niren Angle, MD (Vascular and Endovascular Surgery) Michael Bouvet, MD (Minimally Invasive Surgery/Endocrine)David W. Easter, MD (Minimally Invasive Surgery)Anthony E. Magit, MD (Otolaryngology)Robert A. Weisman, MD (Otolaryngology)
New Tool for Patient Safety During Thyroid and Parathyroid Surgery at UCSD
Dr. Michael Bouvet is using a new device for patient safety during thyroid and parathyroid surgery.more info
New Research Project Underway for Breast Cancer Surgery Patients
Helping breast cancer surgery patients avoid the need for a second operation is the goal of a research project now underway in the laboratory of Dr. Sarah Blair, Assistant Professor of Surgery/Breast Specialties at UCSD.
Click here to read more about this research project.
Expert in Robotic Surgery Is New Chief of Urology
The Department of Surgery welcomes robotic surgery expert Dr. Christopher J. Kane, who joins our faculty as Professor of Surgery/Urology and Chief of Urology at UCSD.
On October 2, Dr. Kane was featured in a Fox 6 News television interview on prostate cancer and robotic prostatectomy.
Dr. Horgan Establishing LAP-BAND ProgramMinimally Invasive Surgery for Morbid ObesityNow Available at UCSD
A pioneer in the surgical treatment of obesity has joined the Department of Surgery faculty, bringing with him a new, minimally invasive surgery for treating patients who are seriously overweight.
Dr. Santiago Horgan, formerly of the University of Illinois in Chicago and now Professor of Clinical Surgery at UCSD, is establishing the first program in San Diego to offer the new LAP-BAND Adjustable Gastric Banding System. A minimally invasive outpatient procedure, the LAP-BAND system is the only weight loss surgery approved by the United States FDA.
With the LAP-BAND system, the surgeon places an adjustable balloon in the stomach to reduce the stomach capacity and create a feeling of fullness. The LAP-BAND involves no cutting or stapling of the stomach and no intestinal re-routing. Unlike any other procedure available, it is adjustable and reversible.
LAP-BAND technology has been used for years in Europe and South America. Dr. Horgan played a major role in introducing LAP-BAND to the United States and in conducting the clinical trials that led to FDA approval of the technique.
Having performed over 500 LAP-BAND procedures, Dr. Horgan is one of the most experienced surgeons in the world in the LAP-BAND. He has traveled throughout the United States to train other surgeons in the technique.
Dr. Horgan, who specializes in robotic surgery, is a fellowship-trained expert in laparoscopic surgery and in surgery and physiology of the esophagus. Before coming to UCSD, he was Director of the Minimally Invasive Surgery and Robotic Surgery Department and Co-Director of the Swallowing Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He was also Director of the Minimally Invasive Bariatric Center in Chicago. In 2005, he was named one of America’s Top Doctors by Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.
Dr. Horgan’s work was recently featured on a KUSI-TV San Diego special segment.
For more information or to schedule an appointment with Dr. Horgan, please call (619) 543-6711.
For excellence in clinical care, Dr. Niren Angle, UCSD Department of Surgery vascular specialist, won a high honor from his peers in September when he received a UCSD Health Sciences Faculty Award for 2005.
Dr. Angle is Assistant Professor in the Vascular and Endovascular Surgery section of the Department of Surgery. His specialties include the diagnosis and treatment of carotid and cerebrovascular disease. To visit Dr. Angle’s home page, please click here.
In the awards ceremony on September 22, Dr. Angle was one of seven UCSD Medical Center faculty members who were recognized for excellence in teaching, research, clinical care, or community service. Each physician is nominated and chosen by his or her fellow faculty members.
Also receiving an Excellence in Clinical Care award was Steve Plaxe, M.D., Professor of Reproductive Medicine.
Awards for excellence in teaching went to Igor Grant, M.D. (Professor of Psychiatry) and Daniel G. Blanchard, MD (Professor of Medicine/Cardiology). For research, Richard Kolodner, Ph.D. (Professor of Medicine) and Roger Y. Tsien, Ph.D. (Department of Pharmacology) were honored. James Dunford, M.D. (Professor of Medicine and Surgery/Emergency Medicine) received the Community Service Excellence award, a new award given for the first time.
Dr. Ludwig R. Cebelli, medical director of the San Gregorio Memorial Hospital emergency services wrote this note to Dr. Niren Angle, Chief of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery:
Thank you for helping us at San Gregorio Memorial Hospital ER last week in managing the safe transfer of our patient. On behalf of the entire ER staff you were most helpful and we are very appreciative of your efforts. We have no vascular/interns visit services at our small community hospital and were unable to safely provide care for our patient. We called all hospitals in a 100 mile radius and the larger medical centers were "too full" to receive our patient for this complex level of care. Our sincere thanks for coming to bat for him!
After leaving his homeland of Zimbabwe due to a civil war, Stuart Jamieson waited tables in London, England to save enough money to put himself through medical school. He then secured a rare fellowship position with prominent heart surgeon Norman Shumway, M.D. of Stanford University, who performed the nation’s first heart transplant. Today, Dr. Jamieson is internationally known for his contributions to the field of heart and lung transplantation. He was honored to accept the Ellis Island Medal of Honor with fellow recipients at Ellis Island on Saturday, May 10, 2008.
The Ellis Island Medal of Honor was established in 1986 by the National Coalition of Organizations (NECO) “to pay tribute to the ancestry groups that make up America’s unique cultural mosaic. Each year the ceremony celebrates the immigrant experience on Ellis Island, through which millions of immigrants passed on their way to a new life in America.
This year's list of San Diego's "Top Doctors," as chosen by their peers, includes ten members of the UCSD Department of Surgery faculty:
The list is compiled by the San Diego County Medical Society, and published each year in the October issue of the San Diego Magazine. Click here to view the article on the San Diego Magazine website.