Category: surgery

Only when you are a patient do you experience the frailty of being one

We as physicians need a dose of our own medicine as a booster ever so often. I went in for a simple procedure. A lumbar epidural steroid injection for pain which has recently become more than tolerable at times — nothing disabling. Nothing that stops m…

An approach to prior authorization insurance denials

Patient access to care is a high priority for all neurosurgeons. Unfortunately, many of our practices are thwarted in these efforts from unwarranted insurance denials. Know, you are not alone. Take this common scenario: When Ms. Mary Smith (not the pat…

Not all pathologists are created equal

Pathology and laboratory medicine services play a vital role in global health care and continuously improve patient care around the world. When it comes to your medical care, you have many options, and choosing the right professional could improve your…

Reflecting on the state of global anesthesia

A guest column by the American Society of Anesthesiologists, exclusive to KevinMD.com. I imagine every physician anesthesiologist has experienced drug or equipment shortages in the last year. How frustrating that even in the world’s largest health care…

Medical students and physicians are forever looking to milestones

“I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.” – Diane Ackerman Nathan picks up a pen from the tray next to the dry erase boards. “OK,” he s…

Medical students and physicians are forever looking to milestones

“I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.” – Diane Ackerman Nathan picks up a pen from the tray next to the dry erase boards. “OK,” he s…

Excellent surgeons those who are quick to recognize their mistakes

“Dr. Rahman, this is the nurse in OR 12, Dr. H is doing a robotic/laparoscopic hysterectomy. He thinks he’s injured the ureter and is requesting help. Are you available?” I knew what came next was going to be complex — challenging surgically, disruptiv…

The challenge of no to arthroscopic surgery

Nearly half of Canadians aged 65 and over experience osteoarthritis in their knees. Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis and occurs when the protective cartilage on the ends of bones wears down over time leading to pain, stiffness and de…

Physicians sacrifice a lot to deliver care. Technology shouldn’t ask for more.

I had a great case the other night. Around midnight on a Friday, the hospitalist physician called me to evaluate an incarcerated femoral hernia. I thought this elderly and medically ill patient would likely die no matter what I did. I spent a grim half…

A surgeon mistakes a kidney for a tumor. How can this happen?

A number of media outlets recently featured a story about a Florida general surgeon who removed a normal kidney from a woman who was undergoing spine surgery. How could this have occurred? The 51-year-old patient who had been injured in a car crash was…