Pain Management
(Published: 01-01-2008, ABCNews.com) Eugene Viscusi, M.D., Director of Acute Pain Management Services, Thomas Jefferson University
Hospital, is featured this month on ABC News' web site project "On Call," responding to questions about common pain problems
and how to treat them.
Department of Anesthesiology
Media Coverage
ABCNews.com
ABCNews.com
Researchers: Hot Spices May Soothe Pain
(Published: 10-29-2007, Associated Press) Devil's Revenge. Spontaneous Combustion. Hot sauces have names like that for a
reason. Now scientists are testing if the stuff that makes the sauces so savage can tame the pain of surgery. Doctors are
dripping the chemical that gives chili peppers their fire directly into open wounds during knee replacement and a few other
highly painful operations. Enter Anesiva's specially purified capsaicin, called Adlea. Experiments are under way involving
several hundred patients undergoing various surgeries, including knee and hip replacements. There's a huge need for better
surgical pain relief," says Dr. Eugene Viscusi, director of acute pain management at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.
Department of Anesthesiology
Media Coverage
Associated Press
S.J. Faces: Dr. Yoogoo Kang
(Published: 07-29-2007, Courier Post) Dr. Yoogoo Kang, a Thomas Jefferson University anesthesiologist, was recently honored
by the International Liver Transplant Society, a group he helped found in 1990 while he was working in Pittsburgh. Kang, 61,
of Moorestown was born in South Korea and graduated from Seoul National University School of Medicine in 1971. Today, he serves
on Jefferson's liver transplant team.
Department of Anesthesiology
Liver/Bile Duct/Pancreas Surgery
Courier-Post (NJ)
The Changing Science of Pain
(Published: 05-28-2007, Newsweek) Millions of aging boomers and the latest generation of wounded soldiers hope the secrets
of our most enduring medical foe can finally be unlocked.
Some of the most promising pain treatments of the past decade have turned out to be disappointments. Studies of some radiofrequency
therapies show they work no better than placebos. Spinal-fusion surgery, a recent review found, has "no acceptable evidence"
to support it There's not even any "single drug or technology alone" that can treat all the types of pain, says Eugene Viscusi,
director of acute-pain management at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. Most people need two or three therapies
in combination
Department of Anesthesiology
Media Coverage:
Newsweek
Jefferson Anesthesiologist to be Honored for International Contribution to Liver Transplantation Awareness
(Published: 04-26-2007) The Council of International Liver Transplantation Society (ILTS) will honor Yoogoo Kang, M.D., Professor
and Vice Chair of Anesthesiology, Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, for his significant contribution
to liver transplantation. On June 22 Dr. Kang will receive the 2007 ILTS Distinguished Service Award during the Congress Gala
Dinner in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and will be recognized as a founding member of the society and as its first president.
Surgeons at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital are First in Pennsylvania to Implant Jarvik 2000 Heart Assist System in Heart
Failure Patient
(Published: 03-23-2007) On Monday morning, March 19, cardiac surgeons Scott Silvestry, M.D. and Linda Bogar, M.D. at Thomas
Jefferson University Hospital opened the chest of a 55-year-old man suffering from chronic heart failure and implanted a Jarvik
2000 Heart Assist System to save his life. The Advanced Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant team at Jefferson University
Hospital is the first in the state to implant the new device.
Jefferson Surgeon’s Book Series Shows How to Avoid Hundreds of Common Medical Errors
(Published: 02-22-2007) Surgeon Lisa Marcucci, M.D., says she decided to write a series of practical guides for the medical
community about common medical errors simply because “in the past, we have seen the same mistakes over and over.”
Jefferson Scientists Find High Glucose Before Surgery Increases Risk of Potentially Life Threatening Complications
(Published: 10-15-2006) Patients who have high blood sugar before undergoing surgery run an increased risk of developing blood
clots, deep vein thrombosis and even pulmonary embolism after surgery.
Jefferson Launches Nurse Anesthesia Master’s Degree Program
(Published: 01-24-2006) The Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs granted accreditation to Thomas
Jefferson University’s Jefferson College of Health Professions (JCHP) nurse anesthesia program.
