When surgeons at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit used Twitter during a 30-minute partial nephrectomy earlier this month, their goal wasn’t to share bits of their daily lives with family and friends, as most users of the micro-blogging service do. Rather, they wanted to educate people that removing a tumor on the kidney doesn’t necessarily mean removing the whole kidney.
"We’re trying to use this as a way to get the word out," surgeon Craig Rogers, MD, who specializes in robotic surgery for kidney, prostate and adrenal cancer, told CNN.
While Dr. Rogers performed the robotic procedure, chief resident Raj Laungani, MD, Twittered the progression of the case. At one point, the case almost became more involved than planned. "Dr. Rogers is saying, because the tumor is so large, he may have to do a radical (total nephrectomy)," wrote Dr. Laungani, once Dr. Rogers got a good look at the tumor. The hospital also posted videos of parts of the surgery on YouTube.
The procedure in Detroit is not the first surgery to get the Twitter treatment, which involves posting short blog blasts of no more than 140 characters at a time. In October 2008, Robert Hendrick, author of "My Healthcare Is Killing Me," Tweeted his own laser ablation procedure for varicose veins. (Sample post: "Betadine on the legs. Damn this room is cold").
"Doing this removes a real communication barrier," says Christopher Parks, co-founder of the Web site changehealthcare.com. "It helps make something scary much more comprehendable." Mr. Parks told CNN he expects more medical professionals to share their experiences online as younger generations enter the healthcare arena.
—Kent Steinriede
