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Laparoscopic surgery is a type of surgery that is minimally-invasive. Rather than requiring a large incision to reach the affected areas, surgeons use advanced technology to create a tiny hole. This kind of surgery is especially desirable because the smaller incision is less painful and requires less healing time post-surgery.

Labor and delivery professionals are responsible for ensuring that the pregnant mother and the newborn make it through the delivery safely and happily. These professionals may be OB/GYNs or midwives, and they use a variety of homeopathic techniques or drugs (depending on patient preference) to keep the labor and delivery safe and comfortable.

Kidney surgery is most commonly performed on patients with kidney stones. Kidney stones can be broken up with pulses or removed surgically. Another type of kidney surgery is kidney transplantation, which is only used as a last resort for patients whose kidney(s) have completely failed. One of AME’s kidney surgery expert witnesses has written an exclusive medical malpractice article that we have provided, for your interest, below. Dialysis Unit Communication – Real Time or Real Problem Dialysis Unit Communication: At present there are more than 6500 dialysis centers in the Untied States that provide life saving care for patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD) requiring in renal replacement therapy. This often thrice-weekly form of treatment has become commonplace in virtually every major city and suburb in the US. Dialysis care is almost universally provided by Nephrologists (physicians specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of kidney diseases) in close collaboration with a team of health care providers that includes specially trained dialysis nurses technicians, social workers and dieticians. Dialysis care is now considered sufficiently routine that the Nephrologists need not be present during each treatment. Potential Consequences of Dialysis: Potential Consequences of Dialysis: As with any procedure, hemodialysis carrels a small but significant risk of complication including infection, low blood pressure, and bleeding. The risk of choric blood loss is real, even under ideal conditions; however, blood los may also be acute, especially in patients with plastic dialysis catheters that are susceptible to accidental disconnection during or after the dialysis procedure. Standard of Care: Recent evidence suggests that hemodialysis units widely vary in standardizing communication when untoward vents occur in the absence of the Nephrologist. While some units report any unit ward event, others elect not to inform the Nephrologist, potentially causing these events to be unaddressed, thereby increasing the risk of recurrence, complications and even death. Partly as a result to this variability in practice, it is necessary for physician to review the “event threshold” that mandates communication between the Dialysis Unit and Nephrologist in order to prevent or minimize or the risk of dialysis related complications that jeopardize the patients’ well being. It is also clear that the absence of documentation that communication has in fact occurred increases liability in cases of these unfortunate complications. References: (4-6) 4. Di Benedetto A, Pelliccia F, Moretti M, d’Orsi W, Starace F, Scatizzi L, et al. What causes an improved safety climate among the staff of a dialysis unit? Report of an evaluation in a large network. J Nephrol. 5. Spiegel B, Bolus R, Desai AA, Zagar P, Parker T, Moran J, et al. Dialysis practices that distinguish facilities with below- versus above-expected mortality. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol.5(11):2024-33. 6. Harwood L, Ridley J, Lawrence-Murphy JA, White S, Spence-Laschinger HK, Bevan J, et al. Nurses’ perceptions of the impact of a renal nursing professional practice model on nursing outcomes, characteristics of practice environments and empowerment–Part II. CANNT J. 2007;17(2):35-43. About this Expert: The Nephrologist Expert who wrote this article is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Boston University and an attending physician in the Renal Section at Boston Medical Center. His interests include education of medical students and house staff, basic research on the cellular mechanisms of ischemic acute renal failure and the care of patients with both general medical and renal diseases. This Expert is the senior author of numerous publications in the area of the cellular stress response to acute renal ischemia and has been a Principal Investigator for the National Institutes of Health for almost 20 years. He also received several awards for excellence in teaching from medical students, house staff and colleagues at Boston Medical Center. Most recently, he was a finalist for the Metcalf Teaching Award at Boston University for full-time faculty and received the Grant V. Rodkey award from the Massachusetts Medical Society for significant contributions to medical student education and mentoring. This expert has been involved in the care of complex internal medicine and nephrology patients for more than 25 years in both private practice and university hospital settings.

The most common sign that a patient has kidney cancer is a mass in the abdomen. Depending on the extent and type of cancerous growth, treatment plans include surgery and chemotherapy. One of AME’s kidney cancer expert witnesses has written an exclusive medical malpractice article that we have provided, for your interest, below. Dialysis Unit Communication: At present there are more than 6500 dialysis centers in the Untied States that provide life saving care for patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD) requiring in renal replacement therapy. This often thrice-weekly form of treatment has become commonplace in virtually every major city and suburb in the US. Dialysis care is almost universally provided by Nephrologists (physicians specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of kidney diseases) in close collaboration with a team of health care providers that includes specially trained dialysis nurses technicians, social workers and dieticians. Dialysis care is now considered sufficiently routine that the Nephrologists need not be present during each treatment. Potential Consequences of Dialysis: Potential Consequences of Dialysis: As with any procedure, hemodialysis carrels a small but significant risk of complication including infection, low blood pressure, and bleeding. The risk of choric blood loss is real, even under ideal conditions; however, blood los may also be acute, especially in patients with plastic dialysis catheters that are susceptible to accidental disconnection during or after the dialysis procedure. Standard of Care: Recent evidence suggests that hemodialysis units widely vary in standardizing communication when untoward vents occur in the absence of the Nephrologist. While some units report any unit ward event, others elect not to inform the Nephrologist, potentially causing these events to be unaddressed, thereby increasing the risk of recurrence, complications and even death. Partly as a result to this variability in practice, it is necessary for physician to review the “event threshold” that mandates communication between the Dialysis Unit and Nephrologist in order to prevent or minimize or the risk of dialysis related complications that jeopardize the patients’ well being. It is also clear that the absence of documentation that communication has in fact occurred increases liability in cases of these unfortunate complications. References: (4-6) 4. Di Benedetto A, Pelliccia F, Moretti M, d’Orsi W, Starace F, Scatizzi L, et al. What causes an improved safety climate among the staff of a dialysis unit? Report of an evaluation in a large network. J Nephrol. 5. Spiegel B, Bolus R, Desai AA, Zagar P, Parker T, Moran J, et al. Dialysis practices that distinguish facilities with below- versus above-expected mortality. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol.5(11):2024-33. 6. Harwood L, Ridley J, Lawrence-Murphy JA, White S, Spence-Laschinger HK, Bevan J, et al. Nurses’ perceptions of the impact of a renal nursing professional practice model on nursing outcomes, characteristics of practice environments and empowerment–Part II. CANNT J. 2007;17(2):35-43. About this Expert: The Nephrologist Expert who wrote this article is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Boston University and an attending physician in the Renal Section at Boston Medical Center. His interests include education of medical students and house staff, basic research on the cellular mechanisms of ischemic acute renal failure and the care of patients with both general medical and renal diseases. This Expert is the senior author of numerous publications in the area of the cellular stress response to acute renal ischemia and has been a Principal Investigator for the National Institutes of Health for almost 20 years. He also received several awards for excellence in teaching from medical students, house staff and colleagues at Boston Medical Center. Most recently, he was a finalist for the Metcalf Teaching Award at Boston University for full-time faculty and received the Grant V. Rodkey award from the Massachusetts Medical Society for significant contributions to medical student education and mentoring. This expert has been involved in the care of complex internal medicine and nephrology patients for more than 25 years in both private practice and university hospital settings.

Surgeons use intraoperative monitoring to make sure that their patients are safe during surgeries. They use a variety of technological techniques, including EEGs and EMGs, to keep track of vital signs. They do this so that if a patient begins to crash during the surgery, they can quickly respond to the problem.