Department of Surgery In the News

A Montana family is no longer planning a funeral after their baby was saved by rare life-saving surgery that was performed at Children's Hospital Colorado last year.

Surgeons at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital's transplant center in Aurora performed what is believed to be the first robotic liver transplant surgery on a living donor in the Rocky Mountain region, officials announced in a news release.

PARKER, Colo. (KDVR) — Surgeons at the UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital have made a medical breakthrough, successfully completing a robotic living donor liver transplant for the first time in state history, according to UCHealth. 

The unexpected death of Lisa Marie Presley last January has been linked to a complication of years-old bariatric, or weight loss, surgery, according to an autopsy report.

Here's one more reason to watch your weight: Obesity can increase your odds for serious complications after surgery.

Prediction models that incorporate more than just treatment status could rank order heart transplant candidates by urgency more effectively.

This year's National Donate Life Month has special meaning for a young patient who recently underwent his fourth liver transplant with CU surgeons.

New research describes another possible issue caused by the combination of alcohol and burn injury: impaired cognitive function.

The number of people in the United States needing a liver transplant overall is growing, so the generosity of living donors is increasingly important.

For the first time, patients with damaged tricuspid valves in their hearts might have a safe treatment that actually helps.

Clinicians advise awareness of scald burns, which involve touching a hot liquid and happen regularly in the bathroom and kitchen.

Frostbite is a concern when temperatures fall dangerously low as what is happening to start this week.

New research found that receiving adjuvant chemotherapy improved survival in patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma who received curative-intent surgery.

Patients with breast cancer who receive a mastectomy and are discharged on the same day displayed similar levels of satisfaction, according to recent study.

Extreme cold has officially arrived in Colorado, prompting warnings from doctors to avoid extended periods of time outside.

Men are three to four times more likely than women to develop bladder cancer, but the disease tends to be deadlier in females. Why?

Cannabis users reported somewhat worse postoperative pain compared with people who did not use cannabis before surgery, according to a recent study.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the wait for pediatric heart transplants was longer than before the pandemic, but waiting list mortality did not change.

Certain risk factors can increase the risk of liver transplant patients needing to return to the operating room (R-OR) within 2 days of their original surgery.

After more than three years of intensive research and planning, patients with a body mass index over 40 are being offered robotic kidney transplants.

The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with a decrease in transplantation in 2020, recently published CU Department of Surgery research found.

While Colorado medical centers celebrate new Level 1 Trauma designation, not everyone in the trauma system thinks adding trauma centers is a good idea.

A 2-year-old boy who almost died from liver failure is back to his playful self after receiving a liver transplant from a living donor, his brother.

Women with breast cancer commonly see their sexual health decline, yet their doctors aren't telling them what to expect -- or what to do about it.

A New Mexico teen wasn't sure he would be able to recognize himself after he was badly burned in February, but now he can thanks to a new treatment at UCHealth’s Burn and Frostbite Center.

End-stage liver disease patients at lower risk for death in the short term still reaped the substantial benefits of a living-donor liver transplant (LDLT), a case-control study revealed.

Pancreatic cancer affects around 62,000 Americans every year, accounting for 3% of all cancers in the US and approximately 7% of all cancer deaths. Beloved former Jeopardy host Alex Trebek passed away from pancreatic cancer on November 8, 2020, after being diagnosed in March 2019. 

Humacyte, Inc. will host a key opinion leader webinar July 14 on its proprietary Human Acellular Vessels featuring a presentation from Ernest E. Moore, MD.

In a new study, the standardized mortality ratio was five times higher for lung transplant recipients compared with non-hospitalized individuals, according to new data published in the Journal of Cardiac Surgery.

Over a four-year period, 15 teenagers sustained injuries from e-cigs that exploded, according to the surgeons who treated some of these patients.

Recently published research shows that when clinicians input eight pre-operative variables into the Surgical Risk Preoperative Assessment System (SURPAS), the SURPAS model accurately predicts post-operative ICU use across nine surgical specialties.

Health authorities have educated us that drinking enough water is absolutely vital for our bodies to function properly. And it is—unless you drink too much of it.

Why are older adults more likely to get seriously ill or even die from pneumonia? It turns out the cause may have as much to do with the gut as it does with the lungs.

Human connection brought two strangers together in Colorado for a rare, life-saving liver transplant.

A 4-year-old girl is living a full, healthy life thanks to her new liver that came from a complete stranger.

Adjuvant therapy in patients who did not undergo complete lymph node removal surgery for the treatment of stage 3 melanoma, a type of skin cancer, may provide better distant metastasis-free survival, according to recent data.

When 11-year-old Emi was placed on the liver transplant list in August of 2021, it looked like she could be sitting there for a while.

Patients with a high body mass index and who are in desperate need of a kidney transplant have one less hurdle to worry about. UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital on the Anschutz Medical Campus completed two successful robotic transplants. Both patients had BMIs over 40.

After more than three years of intensive research and planning, UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital on the Anschutz Medical Campus has completed two successful robotic kidney transplants on patients with a body mass index (BMI) over 40.

In 2021, a Crested Butte family received a life-changing diagnosis. During the holiday season, their story is an apparent reminder that sometimes the best gifts are never found under a tree.

Back on Feb. 25, competing in a chess tournament was only a hope for Griffin McConnell, now 17, of Golden. Doctors had just finished his second hemispherectomy, a procedure that disconnects the left and right side of the brain and causes some paralysis. The brain surgery was Griffin’s fourth since being diagnosed at age 5 with epilepsy.

UCHealth ranked in the top 50 nationally for gastroenterology; ear, nose and throat care; adult diabetes and endocrinology; cancer treatment; urology; and rheumatology.

Compared with non-Hispanic White Americans, Hispanic Americans receive disproportionally fewer organ transplants. In 2018, the Hispanic Transplant Clinic was established at the University of Colorado. Madhura Pande and colleagues at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, conducted a study to examine the efficacy of the program in reducing this disparity.

Now that summer has officially arrived, thoughts might be turning to a new seasonal look. But, before that, it might be wise to think about another look, one that results from spending too much time in the sun. Sunburn is not just an uncomfortable condition, it could be a precursor to skin cancer, the most common and potentially fatal cancer in the United States.

This long holiday weekend, doctors at the UCHealth Burn Center on the Anschutz Medical Campus are seeing an increase in the number of fireworks, campfire and grill injuries.

It was March 6, 2021. Bryan Raymond lay in an ICU at UCHealth in Aurora, sustained by two forms of life support. A surgeon walked into the room and delivered good news: the donor’s lungs looked good. The transplant was on.

A Colorado Springs family is sharing their story of resilience after life-changing surgery.

A Highlands Ranch forty-year-old mother of four was diagnosed with stage four cancer 10 months ago. The problem was, at the time, doctors did not know where exactly the cancer was in her body.

Nigel Richardson received quite a surprise on Monday. The UCHealth heart transplant recipient received a check for $110,000 from the Dawg Nation Hockey Foundation.

A baby born with some of her organs protruding from her body is now home with her parents in Frederick. Isabella Rhea Beach spent her first month of life in Children’s Hospital Colorado where she had five surgeries to repair the rare birth defect.

Severely ill COVID-19 patients treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) had similar survival to hospital discharge and long-term outcomes as survivors treated with mechanical ventilation alone, results of a new, multicenter study suggest.

A recent study presented at the American Association for Thoracic Surgery 101st Annual Meeting has found that COVID-19 patients who were treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) showed similar outcomes as others who were treated with mechanical-ventilation.

Taira Foster is a registered nurse who loves traveling with her husband. If you met her you would have no idea that she donated two organs but she would probably be quick to tell you about it.

“There are tens of thousands of people who are waiting across the country for a new kidney. That’s the same with livers and hearts and other solid organs. And the supply is just much smaller than the demand,” said Dr. Margret Bock with Children’s Hospital Colorado.

Bryan Raymond tested positive for the coronavirus in December 2020, and walked out of a Denver hospital with a newly transplanted pair of lungs in March 2021.

In 2018, 69% of Coloradans said “Yes” to organ donation on their drivers’ license. That makes Colorado number one in the nation for highest donor designation, but there are also people here willing to become living donors.

By the time Colorado resident Taira Foster turned 33, she’d already lived a lot of lives. The soft-spoken vegan was working as a massage therapist at the Hard Rock Casino in Tampa, Fla., after careers in nursing, Planned Parenthood and a four-year stint performing as the princess in a dinner theater production of “Arabian Nights.”

Little did she know that 2017 would be the year she added “kidney sister” to the list.

By early January, the virus had nearly destroyed Bryan's lungs. That's when he was moved to UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital on the CU Anschutz Medical Campus.

The only person in Colorado to receive a lung transplant due to COVID is now recovering at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital on the CU Anschutz Medical Campus.

A family of medical professionals is hopeful its research into anti-blood clotting medication could help in the fight against COVID-19.

“We’re approaching this with optimism that it’s going to work,” said Dr. Hunter Moore, a transplant surgery fellow at the University of Colorado Denver.

Dr. Kweku Hazel, a surgical fellow for UCHealth's University of Colorado Hospital, and his wife Dr. Cynthia Hazel, a researcher for the Omni Institute, have been reaching out to Black and underserved communities throughout the Denver metro area trying to reassure members that the vaccine is safe.

When Dr. Kweku Hazel received his COVID-19 vaccine, he asked a fellow health care worker to snap his photo. Yes, the moment was historic. But Hazel, a surgical fellow at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital, also had a special purpose. He wanted to share details about receiving his vaccine with family, friends, and members of his community to try to reassure them that the COVID-19 vaccine is safe.

According to the American Cancer Society, about 1 man in 41 will die of prostate cancer. It is the second leading cause of cancer death in American men, behind only lung cancer.

Four years ago, the then-21-year-old ended up at UCHealth Burn and Frostbite Center - Anschutz Medical Campus. He had gotten lost for hours walking in the snow and when he arrived to his brother's house his feet were black from frostbite. His brother rushed him to the hospital, a moment his mother will never forget.

According to the American Cancer Society, about 1 man in 41 will die of prostate cancer. It is the second leading cause of cancer death in American men, behind only lung cancer.

Fran Etzkorn survived three life-threatening conditions so she could get back to clowning around.

COVID-19 left Robert Carver barely able to breathe. Six weeks after entering the UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital, he went home, with the help of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and intensive physical rehabilitation.

For the ninth year in a row, U.S. News and World Report ranks UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital (UCH), located on the Anschutz Medical Campus, No. 1 on its list of the state’s best hospitals. UCH is also ranked among the nation’s best in nine specialties including No. 2 in pulmonology & lung surgery.

It was the first week of April, about two months after the first reported novel coronavirus case in the United States, when Dr. Ernest Moore and his colleagues began reviewing the first autopsy reports of patients who had died from the disease in China. One finding in particular caught their attention.

Aurora, CO - The hours and days after someone gets shot or stabbed or assaulted can change the course of the rest of their lives.

In August 2016 Armentrout, then 39, was in the midst of life as a law enforcement officer in northern Colorado when he began experiencing fatigue and saw blood in his stool. The tiredness was a puzzle to a guy who moved from high school sports in his native Omaha to a college career as an offensive lineman for the University of South Dakota’s football team and a discus thrower with the school’s track-and-field unit.

DENVER (KDVR) — Hundreds of health professionals in the Denver metro area gathered at East 17th Avenue and Colorado Boulevard Friday to protest racism and show support for George Floyd, a black man who was killed by a Minneapolis police officer after kneeling on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes.

Irma Ayers had gotten her daughter Aunjane into kickboxing. The child was on her own sometimes because Irma was a single mom working full-time, and being able to protect yourself is a good thing. Aunjane found that she liked the intensity of the sessions and learning what she called “cool stuff” to the point that she even got into mixed martial arts training. But soon, she found her workouts cut short by shortness of breath.

AURORA, Colo. (KDVR) – Friday was Robert Carver’s 50th birthday. A few weeks ago, his wife and doctors weren’t sure he’d live to see this day.

“Oh yeah, I call this chapter two. This is chapter two of my life. I went to my doctor today for my checkup, this is the first checkup that I’ve had since I’ve been out of the hospital. She said, ‘Did you know every organ in your body collapsed and was gone?'” Carver told FOX31.

Jim Page has had a 70-year love affair with skiing. If the oft-quoted observation that geography is destiny is true, he grew up in the right place to meet the object of his affection.

DENVER (KDVR) — A family of medical professionals is hopeful its research into anti-blood clotting medication could help in the fight against COVID-19.

“We’re approaching this with optimism that it’s going to work,” said Dr. Hunter Moore, a transplant surgery fellow at the University of Colorado Denver.

During the season of giving, Drea Richardson felt a calling to help the helpless. Her baby cousin, Destiny, has a rare genetic metabolic disorder called methylmalonic acidemia.

BRA Day stands for Breast Reconstruction Awareness. Dr. Tae Chong, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital discusses the options.

Colorado is home to hundreds of everyday heroes who are responsible for saving lives through organ donation.

Dr. Richard Schulick, director of the CU Cancer Center and a pancreas surgeon, joined us to talk about pancreatic cancer and why the diagnosis usually comes so late.

About half of New Year’s resolutions are to lose weight or get in shape. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, approximately 235,000 people will get liposuction, and another 450,000 have non-surgical fat reduction procedures (e.g. cryotherapy or injections).

Alina Miller jumped from a four-story building to escape a fire. Luckily she lived near the University of Colorado Hospital (UCH) Emergency Department, where experienced trauma doctors treated her injuries. With its years-long track record treating trauma patients, UCH in October 2018 earned a Level 1 trauma center designation for its combination of resources, research, and education.