U. prof makes important medical discovery

Gall bladder surgery has been on the rise since a less evasive procedure for gall bladder removal was introduced in 1989, according to a new study done by University Medical Professor Jose Escarce. The study, published yesterday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, reports that gallbladder surgery has increased 22 percent since the new procedure was implemented in 1989. The procedure, called laparoscopic cholecystectomy, is less evasive because it uses a scope inserted into the abdomen, rather than an open incision. And the newer method is less expansive and less painful than the traditional surgery, allowing patients to recover faster. According to the article, the procedure is cheaper because the surgery is less expansive and the incidence of disease following surgery is greatly reduced. Escarce focused his research on Medicare claims for patients aged 65 years or older who lived in Pennsylvania and had their gall bladders removed between 1986 and 1993. "We found that cholecystectomy rates (rates of surgery for gall bladder removal) among elderly Medicare beneficiaries in Pennsylvania were stable in the years immediately preceding the introduction of laparoscopic cholecystectomy in 1989, but subsequently increased rapidly," the authors of the article wrote. "The 22 percent increase in the annual cholecystectomy rate is only slightly lower than that reported for younger populations." But the ease of the new technique has caused some patients to throw caution into the wind and opt for surgery when it is not necessary, an editorial in the journal warned. "It is important that physicians and patients not be tempted into doing surgery just because the surgery now seems easier and because the patient has some symptoms that 'might be related to gallstones," wrote David Ransohoff of the Department of Epidemiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Charles McSherry of the Department of Surgery at Cornell University Medical College. "We need to save the procedure for persons who can really benefit."

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