Shaking the Tree of Tradition:  Advances in Colon and Rectal Surgery – The Jefferson Contribution

John H Marks, MD, Section of Colon and Rectal Surgery, Main Line Health/Jefferson Health Systems, Lankenau and Bryn Mawr Hospitals

Jeffersonians have a well-established history of spearheading major surgical advances.  The heart-lung machine, the bronchoscope, and the method of continuous spinal anesthesia were all born at Jefferson.  Likewise, significant contributions have been made in colorectal surgery, including seminal work on the radiation responsiveness of adenocarcinoma of the rectum and the radical stance that surgical options do exist for avoiding a permanent colostomy.  The colonoscope was pioneered at Jefferson, where the first colonoscopy symposium in the world was organized and held in 1974.

As evidence of the way Jeffersonians are shaking the tree of tradition, data will be presented from the first program ever of preoperative irradiation and sphincter preservation surgery, 80 consecutive laparoscopic colorectal operations and the first series of 22 patients in the Philadelphia area treated with transanal endoscopic microsurgery (TEM).

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