Surgery

The American College of Surgeons (ACS)  brings together a broad group of surgeons, from more than 12 specialties, during their annual clinical congress. This year, the group gathered in San Diego, California. ACS 2017 had a theme: "Do what's right for the patient." This idea was evident throughout the conference. And, it's an idea that Cook Medical sympathizes with. We were founded on a philosophy of putting patients first.

The annual American College of Surgeons (ACS) Clinical Congress is in San Diego this year during October 22-25. Stop by the Cook Medical booth in the expo hall to see our products for cholangiography, common bile duct exploration, and endobiliary stenting. Try out these products with our bile-duct models at the booth too.

Our Biodesign® Fistula Plug is an outcome of a surgeon’s ingenuity. One of Cook Medical’s devoted representatives, Chris Nelson, helped that surgeon turn that idea into a product that benefits fistula patients across the globe. Chris just celebrated 17 years with the company, yet his partnership with Dr. David Armstrong remains one of his proudest accomplishments.

During the recent tripartite meeting of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (ASCRS), several surgeons spoke about their experience with social media.

Before our Biodesign products came into being, we had another line of small intestinal submucosa products. That product line was Surgisis®. In 2008, the process for making our small intestinal submucosa technology had changed so much, we renamed the products.

This year’s Americas Hernia Society had excellent panels that discussed differing techniques for abdominal wall reconstruction and complex-hernia repair. We made a list of four takeaways.

In a recent lab, expert surgeons discussed when and why the transversus abdominis release (TAR) technique benefits patients. They facilitated a lab on TAR hernia repair. This lab, however, had a twist: it was on wheels.

Watch Dr. Eric Pauli, from the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, use the Novapass® Suture Passer to fixate a hernia mesh.

In 2000, Gail McDaniel helped Cook launch a new technology: small intestinal submucosa (SIS). Sixteen years later, Gail noticed an incisional hernia in the spot where she had previous surgery. When her surgeon told her that she would need a surgical repair, he mentioned that he’d need to reinforce the repair with a mesh.

In 2012, a 43-year-old woman went into the operating room at QEII Hospital in Brisbane, Australia for an ordinary gynecological procedure. While in recovery, she felt increasing pain. Soon she was in multiple organ failure.

Two surgeons from the U.S. travelled to London to debate at the inaugural Abdominal Wall Reconstruction Europe conference. Their topic: Traditional laparoscopy vs. robot-assisted techniques for abdominal wall surgery.

Through our partnerships with surgeons and hospitals, we have developed these three technologies to be tools you can trust for ventral hernia repair.

Watch the surgical placement of a probe, learn intraoperative troubleshooting tricks, see how a probe is removed, and more.

Education is everything. If there was more information for patients, even a leaflet in the reception of a hospital ‘If you have hernias...’ My wife said if she had seen a leaflet with something like a list of options available for hernia patients on it, she would have moved hell and high water to make sure we got to explore every option.

I was diagnosed with prostate cancer in the summer of 2010, after a biopsy. I was asked to come into the hospital and meet with a consultant. He said to me, ‘I’m sorry Tony but you have prostate cancer and it’s pretty bad’. I went outside, sat on the steps and cried. I had been diagnosed with diabetes the year before and this was not the news I needed to hear.

Vista events are designed that way: to focus on education, not on selling products. Jodie O’Bryan leads Vista events in Australia. “The overall goals of the training labs,” she says, “are to foster collaborative partnerships, provide clinically relevant education, and provide product support.”

Many companies tout words like ‘collaboration’ or ‘partnership,’ when talking about their relationship with customers. We, too, place high value on our partnerships with physicians. But what does partnership mean to us here at Cook?

We are not satisfied with the state of surgery today. We won’t be satisfied until every person who goes into an OR for a surgical procedure leaves with a positive outcome.

First of all, I’d like to commend SAGES on its selection of venue. Salt Lake City is one of the most picturesque cities in the country. It seems that everywhere you look is a beautiful, postcard-worthy view.

Many sessions and symposia at this year’s ASGBI Congress focus on expanding the abilities of the surgeon. These are a few events that have already caught our eye.

It’s the first day of the annual meeting of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES). Cook Surgery is here at the meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Surgeons at the Lili Valley Clinic Foundation in Cali, Colombia, successfully transplanted a living lobe of liver. This procedure was the first of its kind in Latin America.

"Once," says engineer Ryan Bernstein, "We had to find a way to attach a bead to one of our products. We sat there, suturing, attaching different ways until we figured out how to attach it. That’s still what we do: We sit in a lab and hash out different ideas until we get it done."

Our first patient had a fistula at the bladder neck that was caused by an obstructed labor 10 years ago. Imagine constantly leaking urine for 10 years! The obstructed labor also resulted the complete destruction of her uterus.

With almost 2,500 delegates, the meeting drew bigger crowds than anticipated, reflecting the growing interest in bariatric surgery and the increasing problems with obesity around the world.

Did you solve our crossword puzzle? Check your work on this answer key. If you’re a lifelong learner (as most of you crossword-solving surgeons are), take a look at the VistaSM event schedule. You could get experience performing component separation and share stories with your fellow surgeons. Find a Vista event near you here.