Health/Medical: Tyranny of distance

Melbourne - Medianet International-AsiaNet/ - Of all the health issues in Alice Springs trauma and violence are the most preventable, said Dr Ollapalli Jacob today at the co-joint Annual Scientific Congress of the College of Surgeons of Australasia and Hong Kong.

We need to focus on collaborating with the local health care authorities and the community to find solutions to prevent the rampant alcoholism.

As well car accidents, homicide, suicide and violence contribute substantially to the diseases suffered by the people who live in the Alice Springs, Dr Jacob said.

Alice Springs has the highest reported incidence of stab injuries in the world. Violence accounts for more than half the annual trauma case load at the Alice Springs Hospital.

Weekly surgical audits have shown a steady rise of trauma admissions to the hospital between 2000 and 2006.

The tyranny of distance still rules in Central Australia and it is almost impossible to get a victim to a trauma centre within the hour known in our industry as the golden hour - geography selects for survival.

The average time of a patient reaching Alice Springs Hospital after an accident is 6.5 hours and that is just too long, said Dr Jacob.

Measures must be taken to put a stop to the large scale alcohol genocide to save one of the most unique and ancient cultures of the world.

People are frustrated, most are unemployed and they have nothing to do, so they turn to drinking.

Most injuries are related to alcohol and there are no immediate or short term solutions, we need a plan to combat this.

The Australian government intervention may be a start and culturally appropriate primary health care, but genuine consultation with Indigenous people and continuous effort is required for it to be successful.

Trauma is among the leading causes of death and disability in Central Australia and these injuries often affect young people causing long term disability.

Fiona Gillies, RACS Media & PR Manager on +61 407 339 556 or
+852 2132 4886 Ruth Charters, RACS Media & PR Officer on +852
9767 1350 OR +852 2132 4885
SOURCE: Royal Australasian College of Surgeons

Medical/Technology: New treatment for chronic pain

Melbourne - Medianet International-AsiaNet/ - A revolutionary new treatment for chronic back pain, that could be used to treat all severe pain, will be presented at a world leading surgical Congress in Hong Kong today.

Dr Bruce Mitchell from Melbourne will tell surgeons that the implantable device, that is activated by a remote control the size of a mobile phone, is giving great results.

Chronic back pain has traditionally been a very difficult condition to treat and most people will suffer from it once in a lifetime, but now we think we have got the answer to treat it.

Dr Mitchell is presenting his results at the conjoint Annual Scientific Congress, titled Achievement through Collaboration of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons with the College of Surgeons in Hong Kong.

The doctors at Metro Spinal Clinic conducted the 12 month trial into implanting tubular electrodes under the skin within the major area of pain in the lower back, with a remote control the size of a phone generating a pulse in the implant that stops the pain.

The treatment is known as peripheral nerve simulation and we have demonstrated that is not only safe, minimally invasive but it is also easily reversable

There was a 70 per cent positive response to the trial and went onto implant of the device. Of those with the implant, 88 per cent said that there was a significant reduction in pain.

This is a very encouraging result as it is an area that is notoriously difficult to treat and surgery is often not the answer and sometimes makes it worse.

People with chronic back pain often have sleepless nights and miss hours of work, as sitting or lying down for long periods of times is one of the worst things you can do. It has been estimated that one in five people will suffer from the condition sometime in their lifetime.

One of the other results of the trial is that we may be able to use if for people who have other areas of chronic pain, and who have exhausted all other conventional treatment options.

For more information call: Fiona Gillies, RACS Media & PR Manager on +61 407 339 556 or +852 2132 4886 Ruth Charters,
RACS Media & PR Officer on +852 9767 1350 OR +852 2132 4885
Source: Royal Australasian College of Surgeons

Health/Medical: Safety saves lives says Australian in Hong Kong

Melbourne - Medianet International-AsiaNet/ - The President of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, Dr Andrew Sutherland, said in Hong Kong today that the most critical issue for surgery worldwide was safety.

Next month the College is supporting a World Health Organisation initiative of Safe Surgery Saves Lives where strategies and tools for reducing the rising incidence of deaths and complications from surgery will be highlighted world wide.

The College is joining with the Hong Kong College of Surgeons at a co-joint Annual Scientific Congress in Hong Kong this week, where Achievement Through Collaboration is the theme.

There are few people and almost no surgeons who are not terrified at the prospect of an operation, for patients it is fear of the unknown, for surgeons it is the fear of the known.

One of the main features of a safe system is good communication between the surgeon and their patient and between the surgeon and the surgical team.

What we want to ensure is that in hospital patients get the right operation on the correct body part, with safe anaesthesia, established infection control measures and effective surgical teamwork and that is the responsibility of everyone involved in the surgery. We can all improve, surgeons needs to be more open in disclosing the risk to the patients of an operation and the patient should not be afraid to ask about the complications that may happen.

Everyone involved in surgery from the operating room cleaner, to the patient, the nurse, the surgeon and the hospital CEO has a responsibility to become more involved in effective surgical care.

In some countries now the surgeon asks the patient or their relatives to mark the site of the surgery on the patients body and that is not a bad idea.

Infection control is another area where we can all do better and it is in the patients interest to ask a doctor, a surgeon, or a nurse if they have washed their hands before they examine them that would considerably cut down infection rates.

Worldwide there are estimated to be around 230 million operations a year, one for every 25 people. Complications rates are rising with seven million disabling complications and one million deaths per year

CONTACT: Fiona Gillies, RACS Media & PR Manager on +61 407
339 556 or +852 2132 4886

SOURCE: Royal Australasian College of Surgeons

Health/Medical: Surgeon advises works to treat burns

Melbourne - Medianet International-AsiaNet/ - The most effective first-aid treatment for burns injuries remains the use of cold running water for 20 minutes, according to Professor Roy Kimble, Director of the Burns and Trauma Unit at the Royal Childrens Hospital in Brisbane.

Professor Kimble today told the Annual Scientific Congress (ASC) of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons that recent studies had proven that while members of the public were increasingly using ice or Aloe Vera, they had no appreciable benefits and should not be used in place of cold running water.
"The key here is cold running water," Professor Kimble said.

"We don't know why the water running over the burn makes a difference but it does. It lessens the depth of the burn which speeds healing which in turn limits scarring."

"Our studies have shown that some of the alternative first-aid treatments now on the market such as Aloe Vera or tee-tree products have no benefits whatsoever and ice can actually do harm."

"We will investigate over the next few years why running water is so important, what the optimal duration is and the delay after the burn where such first-aid treatment is still worthwhile."

"We believe such research will form the basis of first-aid burns treatment guidelines for the rest of the world."

Professor Kimble also used the ASC to call on the Federal Government to fund the use of microskin camouflage, a computer colour-matched spay-on skin camouflage used by burns patients to disguise scarring. The product is applied to the scarred skin and remains on the skin for days.

Professor Kimble said the microskin was of particular benefit to younger patients who felt self-conscious because of the scarring.

"Some people adjust to burns scars but others suffer great psychological distress because of the scarring so we believe this product should be funded to allow it to be available to those who need it."

CONTACT:
Fiona Gillies, RACS Media & PR Manager on +61 407 339 556 or +852 2132 4886
Ruth Charters, RACS Media & PR Officer on +852 9767 1350 or +852 2132 4885

SOURCE: Royal Australasian College of Surgeons

Health: Blood transfusion risky warns Australian surgeon in Hong Kong

Melbourne - Medianet International-AsiaNet/ - The notion of giving some patients blood to pep them up is dangerous and surgeons need to be more aware that blood transfusions are risky and should only be given as a last resort.

Australian surgeon Professor Cliff Hughes is warning surgeons in Hong Kong today at the co-joint Annual Scientific Congress of the College of Surgeons of Australasia and Hong Kong, that the majority of blood transfusions are unnecessary.

"We are talking about elective surgery patients that are basically healthy when they have the operations."

In the past transfusions were seen as a tonic for the patient but we now know that it causes complications including increasing the chance of infections and the time spent in hospital.

Also unnecessary blood transfusions can be deadly because of what can be transmitted through the blood like HIV or Hepatitis
C and B.

"We decided the way to tackle the problem was to try and change surgeons prescribing habits but the difficulty was that most surgeons were very confidant that they were already doing the right thing. However this assumption was often incorrect according to the data that we collected over a five year period and we also found that there was a wide variation in how blood transfusions were delivered in hospitals. In 73 per cent of cases there was no clinical need."

"We empowered surgeons to be the gatekeepers and we were able to reduce the blood use in hospitals by 10 per cent and that is a huge saving in the hospital system," Professor Hughes said.

The Congress will run from Tuesday 12 May until Friday 16 May, at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Journalists are welcome to attend for more information please call Fiona Gillies, RACS Media & PR Manager on +61 407 339 556
or +852 2132 4886 Ruth Charters, RACS Media & PR Officer on +852 9767 1350 OR +852 2132 4885

SOURCE: Royal Australasian College of Surgeons

Health/Medical: Star Wars Defence battles breast cancer

Melbourne - Medianet International-AsiaNet/ - American Star Wars technology developed to shoot down nuclear missiles could be used to save the lives of thousands of women with breast cancer, surgeons in Hong Kong will be told today.

American Colonel Craig Shriver will tell surgeons at the co-joint Annual Scientific Congress of the College of Surgeons of Australasia and Hong Kong, that a chance conversation at a cocktail party lead to the discovery.

"I made the notes on a cocktail napkin while I was chatting to the Chief of the Army Space and Missile Defense Command, we discussed how defence technology could be used to fight breast cancer.

"In a missile strike there may be lots of dummy warheads to confuse star wars defence, what the technology does is to identify which missiles have the nuclear warhead. The same idea can be used to find the single cancer cell among the millions of normal ones.

"It is very exciting because we found that the technology which is basically an unclassified software algorithm is very accurate and it is a neat example of how defence technology can be turned towards another use that could help millions of people.

Colonel Craig Shriver is the Chief, Department of General Surgery at the Walter Reed Army Medical Centre, Washington DC and as a leader in breast cancer care will update surgeons on some of the latest developments in breast cancer care.

"When a woman has breast cancer generally she either has a lumpectomy to remove the cancerous tissue or if the cancer has spread throughout the breast, she may have to have the entire breast removed.

"This technique uses the unclassified defence software which can track the trajectory of missiles, to be used to better identify cancerous tumour cells on mammogram imaging, potentially tailoring the surgical approach and lessening the need for more disfiguring surgery.

The research, which is being funded by the Department of Defense, is now in the middle stage and undergoing further refinements in the software algorithm for better breast cancer detection and analysis.

The Congress will run from Tuesday 12 May until Friday 16 May, at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Journalists are welcome to attend for more information please call Fiona Gillies RACS Media & PR Manager on +61 407 339 556 or fiona.gillies@surgeons.org

SOURCE: Royal Australasian College of Surgeons

Health/Medical: A first for surgery - Australasian surgeons to attend HK meeting

A First for Surgery

Melbourne - Medianet International-AsiaNet - Exploration of the latest innovations in surgery will be the focus when more than 2000 surgeons attend the conjoint Annual Scientific Congress, Achievement through Collaboration, at the Hong Kong Convention Centre in Hong Kong next week.

For the first time, surgeons from the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons will join surgeons from the Hong Kong College at one of the biggest ever surgical meetings held in the region.

Australian and New Zealand surgeons have a long standing and productive relationship with their Hong Kong colleagues particularly in the area of surgical education. The holding of this Conjoint Congress reconfirms this relationship and supports the theme of the Congress "Achievement through Collaboration".

World experts in surgical delivery and techniques will also update surgeons on what is happening at some of the leading surgical centres of the world, information that surgeons can use to save lives and improve patient care.

The President of the Australasian College, Dr Andrew Sutherland, said that although surgeons operate locally there is a need to embrace global surgical developments to improve practice and make the system safer for patients.

"The responses and solutions formulated at the local level in one region are not always transmitted globally, which is why we travel, to be exposed to novel local solutions and approaches that we can apply at home"

The Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Mr Donald Tsang will be giving the keynote address at the Congress on Monday and the Vice Minister for Health in China, Dr. Jeifu Huang (a surgeon himself) will officially open the Congress on Tuesday).

Distinguished surgical luminaries from around the world will be giving presentations on a varied range of surgical subjects including the latest in cancer treatments and using American star wars defence know how for health care.

The ability of scientists to artificially grow blood vessels, a new treatment for back pain that could be used for other chronic pain, what is working in breast cancer treatments and the value of robotic surgery in Hong Kong, is it worth it, will all be presentations.

The Congress will run from Tuesday 12 May until Friday 16 May, at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Journalists are welcome to attend for more information please call Fiona Gillies RACS Media & PR Manager on +61 407 339 556

SOURCE: Royal Australasian College of Surgeons