News & Updates

Intimacy, sexual needs often unmet among partners of terminal cancer patients

There is an unmet need for some hospitalized patients with terminal cancer to have time for intimacy with their partners that requires attention, suggests a study.

Optoacoustic blood ‘stethoscope’ holds promise for CV monitoring

Researchers from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore report on a flexible optoacoustic blood ‘stethoscope’ (OBS) for noninvasive, multiparametric, and continuous cardiovascular (CV) monitoring without the need for complex procedures.

Prior ICI therapy potentially improves COVID-19 outcomes in cancer patients

Previous exposure to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) does not appear to worsen COVID-19 outcomes but may even improve them in patients with cancer, according to a study.

Novel microbiome technology boosts Clostridioides difficile cure rate to >90 percent

A novel microbiome technology developed by researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) enhances faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) success rate to >90 percent in patients with recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI). FMT with the novel technology will become available in public hospitals in Hong Kong.

Seladelpar improves markers of cholestasis, reduces pruritus in patients with PBC

Treatment with seladelpar significantly improves serum markers of cholestasis, including alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and total bilirubin (TB), and reduces pruritus in patients with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) who are at risk for disease progression, according to the RESPONSE trial presented at The Liver Meeting 2023.

Flexible ureteroscopy slightly better than shock wave lithotripsy for paediatric renal stones

Treatment with flexible ureteroscopy (FE) results in a significantly higher stone-free rate than shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) in children with renal stones, reports a study. No difference is seen in complication rate or fluoroscopy exposure time between groups, but operative times and hospital stay are longer with FU.

Same-day discharge more preferable than inpatient RARP

Most patients prefer same-day discharge (SDD) over inpatient robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) because of its cost-effectiveness, reports a study. The SDD approach maintains similar satisfaction levels and has comparable rates of complications across institutions and differing surgeon experience.