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Pediatric orthopedic surgeons at Columbia are using a new device with magnetic technology that avoids the need for multiple spine-lengthening surgeries to correct early-onset scoliosis, a severe curvature of the spine in young children. In April 2014, Michael Vitale, MD, the Ana Lucia Professor of Pediatric Orthopedic Surgery at CUMC and 1995 graduate of P&S, performed the first procedure in the New York area, using the device to treat a 5-year-old boy. When braces and casts cannot control scoliosis in young children, surgeons turn to growing rods, which help correct the curve while allowing the spine to grow. When spinal maturity is near, the rods are removed and a spinal fusion can be performed. But during years of treatment with growing rods, patients must undergo surgery every six months to lengthen the rods to keep up with the patients’ growth. A patient may undergo eight to 10 procedures, which are costly and result in lost time for parents at work and children at school. The new device—MAGEC (MAGnetic Expansion Control) rods—contains a mechanism inside the growing rods that allows surgeons to lengthen the rods with a handheld external magnet, without surgery.
Keyhole surgery can be helpful for patients with brain, pituitary and skull base tumors. With cutting edge technology and a proven track record in keyhole and endonasal endoscopic approaches, we make surgery safer, less invasive and more effective.
Spermicide is a birth control method that contains chemicals that stop sperm from moving. Spermicides are available in different forms, including creams, film, foams, gels, and suppositories. Spermicide can be used alone, or it can be used with other birth control methods to make them more effective. It is always used with the diaphragm and cervical cap.
A hiatal hernia occurs when the upper part of the stomach pushes through an opening in the diaphragm and into the chest cavity. The diaphragm is the thin muscle wall that separates the chest cavity from the abdomen. The opening in the diaphragm is where the esophagus and stomach join.
Possible complications could include: Difficulty healing. Infection. Stump pain (severe pain in the remaining tissue) Phantom limb pain (a painful sensation that the foot or toe is still there) Continued spread of gangrene, requiring amputation of more areas of your foot, toes or leg. Bleeding. Nerve damage.
Your baby is still tiny, but already your body is changing. Your breasts start to swell and may feel tender. Tiredness, nausea, and a frequent need to pee are common pregnancy symptoms. In your second trimester, your growing uterus gradually rises up out of your pelvis.
Epilepsy surgery is reserved for people whose seizures are not well controlled by seizure medicines. This situation is sometimes called being "medically refractory" or "drug resistant." In children, the definition of medically refractory is even more individualized to the specific child's situation. Surgery may be considered for some children after weeks to months of treatment with seizure medicines.
People with serious comprehension difficulties have what is called Wernicke’s aphasia and: Often say many words that don’t make sense. May fail to realize they are saying the wrong words; for instance, they might call a fork a “gleeble.” May string together a series of meaningless words that sound like a sentence but don’t make sense. Have challenges because our dictionary of words is shelved in a similar region of the left hemisphere, near the area used for understanding words.