(Press-News.org) The glue, called Kryptonite™, is being used to enhance the closure of the breastbone after surgery. "It has properties like natural bone and allows for new bone growth" says Dr. Fedak, a cardiac surgeon at Foothills Hospital Medical Centre. Up to this point, the breastbone has been closed only with steel wire that stays in the chest.
"One of the most common complaints among patients is sternal pain following heart surgery," he says "With this alternative procedure, significant healing occurs in hours rather than in weeks." By accelerating and improving bone stability, it allows patients to breathe deeply and painlessly without powerful painkillers, meaning fewer side effects. Enhanced bone stability results in fewer complications such as wound infections and bone separation.
Importantly, there were no associated side effects or complications after one year of follow-up.
With the new procedure, pain is cut down because the Kryptonite™ bonds so quickly and effectively to the breastbone. The breastbone becomes solid within hours, shortening the current recovery time of eight weeks by 50 per cent. "People get back to their regular activities much faster."
This much-anticipated release of the official study results prove that the Kryptonite™ adhesive is capable of enhancing the stability of the breastbone closure resulting in early benefits on post-operative recovery.
Researchers found that benefits of the Kryptonite™ adhesive include:
Increased mechanical strength of the breastbone closure by five to 10 times that of wires alone.
Patients showing significantly less pain, a reduced need for painkillers, and improved breathing for weeks after the surgery.
Accelerated post-operative recovery time by weeks.
Patients have improved physical function and an improved health-related quality of life.
First reported on a year ago, when the procedure had been pilot tested on 20 patients, it has now been used on over 500 patients in hospitals across Canada and the United States. Based on the promising findings from the Calgary studies, a larger clinical trial has been established that will include 15 Canadian hospitals and three from the United States.
"It is estimated that 29,000 surgeries requiring sternotomy are performed annually in Canada. World-wide, 1.4 million are performed each year," says Heart and Stroke Foundation spokesperson Dr. Beth Abramson. "This procedure will potentially revolutionize surgical recovery around the world. It increases function, considerably improves quality of life, and ultimately saves the medical system money."
Improving a patient's function is important because walking in addition to medication is needed to keep patients healthy after surgery.
Physicians can be taught very easily to use Kryptonite™. The procedure does not require special equipment and takes only five minutes to perform.
###Dr. Fedak has trained surgeons across Canada who now routinely perform the procedure on their patients.
Statements and conclusions of study authors are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect Foundation or CCS policy or position. The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society make no representation or warranty as to their accuracy or reliability.
The Heart and Stroke Foundation (heartandstroke.ca), a volunteer-based health charity, leads in eliminating heart disease and stroke and reducing their impact through the advancement of research and its application, the promotion of healthy living, and advocacy.
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Taste receptors in the lungs? Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore have discovered that bitter taste receptors are not just located in the mouth but also in human lungs. What they learned about the role of the receptors could revolutionize the treatment of asthma and other obstructive lung diseases.
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Producing tightly focused beams of high energy X-rays, to examine everything from molecular structures to the integrity of aircraft wings, could become simpler and cheaper according to new research.
Today, in Nature Physics, researchers from Imperial College London, the University of Michigan and Instituto Superior Téchnico Lisbon describe a tabletop instrument that produces synchrotron X-rays, whose energy and quality rivals that produced by some of the largest X-ray facilities in the world.
Scientific and medical advances often depend on the development of better ...
The manuscripts associated with these summary presentations are in press and will be published in the Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) journal in 2011.
Guidelines are one of the highest priorities for the CCS.
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The study of 6,000 people living with cardiovascular disease found that participation in cardiac rehab was ...
FOR EMBARGOED RELEASE:
October 25, 2010 12:01AM ET
New Way of Expanding Cancer Screening for Minority Women
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Offering colorectal cancer screening to poor minority women during mammography visits can effectively expand screening in this otherwise underserved population, although lack of medical insurance remains a significant barrier. That is the conclusion of a new study published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. The results highlight the need to find alternative funding sources for colorectal cancer screening from the government or private institutions.
Colorectal cancer screening is inadequate in minority communities in the United ...
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Heart and Stroke Foundation researcher and lead author Nancy Frasure-Smith, PhD explained that anxiety sensitivity is the degree to which a person is frightened by bodily sensations and symptoms, particularly those associated with anxiety. ...
