General Surgery Residency Program

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• Colorectal Surgery
• Communicative Disorders
• General Surgery
• Otolaryngology
• Transplant
• Communicative Disorders
• Pediatric Surgery
• Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• Surgical Oncology
• Thoracic and Cardiovascular
• Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapeutics
• Hand Surgery

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UofL Department of Surgery surgeons are the first in Kentucky to use the da Vinci Robot to treat patients with colorectal and head and neck conditions. The Robot enables surgeons to perform delicate operations with breakthrough precision. It provides the surgeons with exceptional vision, precision, dexterity and improved access to the treatment site. As a result, patients experience less pain and quicker recovery.

Colorectal surgeon Dr. Jeffrey Jorden, Assistant Professor, Division of General Surgery, is the first in the region to use the technology to treat colorectal patients. In April, otolaryngolgists Drs. Jeffrey Bumpous and Kevin Potts teamed up to complete the first daVinci TransOral Robotic Surgery (TORS) in Kentucky and surrounding region. They were able to remove the cancerous tissue without any major incisions.

TORS is a minimally invasive surgery where the surgeons can access the cancerous area through the throat. As with all minimally invasive procedures the goals are to minimize incisions, preserve function, reduce pain and facilitate quicker recoveries.

“As you can imagine there is nowhere more important than the head and neck,” Potts said. “It’s where we swallow, breath and speak.”

Operating through the mouth is not new, but doing it using the daVinci opens up new possibilities. Previously, surgeons had to use long instruments, over one foot in length, which can magnify hand tremors. Older procedures also carry visibility limitations.

The daVinci eliminates those complications with smooth movements and a 3D HD camera, Bumpous said, “The daVinci puts the camera at site of the cancer and gives us the ability to see everything. It ultimately results in better outcomes for our patients.”

U.S. News & World Report has listed 13 Department of Surgery physicians as Top Doctors as part of the publication’s online health services program, which provides referral information on thousands of physicians nationwide.

The Department of Surgery represents 38 percent of the 34 total physicians from the Louisville Metro area named to the list.

According to U.S. News, physicians selected as “Top Doctors” have been “nominated by their peers and named to a highly selective list of America’s top physicians by achieving national recognition for outstanding work.”

The 13 Department of Surgery providers recognized by U.S. News are:

• Sheldon J. Bond, MD, Pediatric Surgeon
• Jeffrey Bumpous, MD, ENT-Otolaryngologist
• Robert N. Cacchione, MD, Surgeon
• Mary E. Fallat, MD, Pediatric Surgeon
• Michael B. Flynn, MD, Surgical Oncologist
• Susan Galandiuk, MD, Colon and Rectal Surgeon
• Michael H. McCafferty, MD, Colon and Rectal Surgeon
• Kelly M. McMasters, MD, Surgical Oncologist
• J. David Richardson, MD, Thoracic Surgeon
• Mark S. Slaughter, MD, Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery
• Gordon R. Tobin, MD, Plastic Surgeon
• Gary Vitale, MD, Surgeon
• Bradon J. Wilhelmi, MD, Plastic Surgeon

For more information, go to http://health.usnews.com

Department of Surgery faculty, staff, and friends donned Owen's Wish T-shirts at last weekend's Kentucky Derby Mini Marathon to help bring awareness to the nationwide cancer drug shortage. To learn more about the cancer drug shortage go to Facebook.com/OwensWish.

History was made this month as the Jewish Hospital Transplant Center took part in the first International Paired Kidney Donor Exchange in America.

This was the first donation chain of which Jewish surgeons have been a part. A chain is a type of “paying it forward.”

"So one of the strategies is to develop the chains where somebody receives a kidney transplant they have a donor and then their donor donates to somebody else and vice versa until the whole chain is completed," said Dr. Michael Hughes, Assistant Professor of Surgery in the Division of Transplantation.

It all began when a man from Greece couldn't get a kidney transplant there. The man flew to the United States and got a kidney from a woman in Oklahoma in December. The man's wife was willing to donate since her husband received the transplant.

She donated a kidney to a recipient in Pennsylvania. Another donor at the same hospital in Pennsylvania donated a kidney to Jewish Hospital. A woman in Louisville will receive that new kidney.

Professor of Surgery Dr. Richard Neal Garrison has been selected for the Jewish Hospital and St. Mary's Foundation Excellence in Research Award! He will be recognized for this award at the 2012 Doctors' Ball in October.