Premier Surgeon Performs Area’s 1st Robotic-Assisted Whipple Surgery for Pancreatic Cancer
Thursday, April 20th, 2017
KNOXVILLE, TN – General Surgeon, Dr. David Harrell of Premier Surgical Associates, is among the first surgeons in Tennessee -and the first in East Tennessee to perform robotic-assisted surgery for pancreatic cancer. The Whipple procedure, also known as a pancreaticoduodenectomy, is a complex operation most often performed to remove a cancerous growth from the pancreas—the organ […]
Read More »What To Know About Surgery: A Nurse Answers FAQ’s
Thursday, August 11th, 2016
As a Premier Surgical Associates LPN, Melissa Smith answers a lot of questions from patients before and after surgery. She works with Premier General Surgeon Dr. David Harrell, and helps prepare and follow up with patients requiring a variety of surgeries related mostly to hernias, gallbladder, appendix, colon, thyroid, or pancreas diseases. “I talk with […]
Read More »What is Laparoscopic Surgery, and Why Do You Want It?
Thursday, July 28th, 2016
Laparoscopic surgery, sometimes called “keyhole” surgery or band-aid surgery, is a minimally invasive procedure using small incisions of around 0.5 to 1.5 cm. A laparoscope, which is a small tube with a camera at the tip, is passed through the incision to the surgical site and relays images from inside the body to a monitor. […]
Read More »Dr. Mejia of Premier Surgical: Serving through Surgery
Wednesday, June 24th, 2015
From Shopper News The importance of service and helping others was instilled in Jose Luis Mejia, MD, FACS, at an early age. As the son of a politician and owner of a newspaper in the South American country of Ecuador, Dr. Mejia saw how his father served the community. But it was his uncle, who […]
Read More »Gallbladder Disease: A Common American Ailment
Wednesday, March 19th, 2014
An estimated 20 million Americans have gallbladder disease. It’s one of the most common conditions in the United States. The gallbladder is a small sac under the liver that stores bile, a digestive fluid that helps absorb fat and grease from the food we eat.
Read More »Single-Incision and Robotic Surgery: Medical Breakthrough or Marketing Ploy?
Tuesday, September 18th, 2012
A recently published article (Reuters Health, July 18) appears under the headline: “Single-Incision Approach Yields No Benefit in Laparoscopic Gallbladder Surgery.” Authors of the article, a group of surgeons from the University of Leicester in England, looked at 49 studies involving 2,336 patients who underwent single-incision laparoscopic cholecystectomy (SILC). Based on their study the researchers […]
Read More »Laparoscopic Colon Resection Decreases Mortality Rate
Tuesday, September 11th, 2012
One of the greatest advances in abdominal surgery in the past decade is the advent of laparoscopic colon resections. Minimally invasive resections were introduced in the 1990s for benign disease; in 2003 they were proven to be of equal oncologic benefit for colon cancer when compared to their open surgery counterpart. Studies have confirmed the […]
Read More »Robotic Surgery Revolutionizes Treatment of Acid Reflux and Hiatal Hernias
Tuesday, July 3rd, 2012
It is no overstatement to say that robotic surgery is revolutionary in our field. It has opened up a whole new door for laparoscopic surgery and takes minimally invasive surgery to a new level. Robotic surgery offers significant advantages, such as better magnification through use of a 3D camera, better instruments, and more degrees of […]
Read More »Outcomes Best with Prompt Laparoscopic Gallbladder Removal
Friday, January 6th, 2012
A recent study concluded that, for best results, laparoscopic surgery to remove an inflamed gallbladder should be done within 48 hours of hospital admission. I’ve been performing surgery since 1997 and perform about 200 gallbladder surgeries each year. Based on my experience, I agree that when possible it’s best to conduct gallbladder surgery sooner rather […]
Read More »Obesity Linked to Infection after Colon Surgery
Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011
With obesity in the national spotlight as a major health problem, many people are now aware that morbid obesity (more than 100 pounds overweight) can directly lead to a number of serious health conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure and adult-onset diabetes. Far fewer may realize that severe obesity is also linked to […]
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