Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Biography: Dr. Christian Birkedal, MD

Dr. Christian L. Birkedal MD, Board certified General Surgeon, at 42 years old is a Clinical Associate Professor and teaches at Daytona Beach Community College’s branch of the Florida State University School of Medicine. He studied medicine at the University Of Alabama School Of Medicine and received Health grades Honor Roll. He also took residency at the Baptist Health System who values continuous education hence, is also an undergraduate of the Florida State University.

A distinguished medical presenter and speaker, Dr. Birkedal is also a writer who has been published in textbook chapters of Emedicine Textbook of Surgery.

Doctor Birkedal’s career includes serving as the Medical Director of the Wound Treatment Center and the Chairman of the Department of Surgery at Capitol Regional Medical Center, there after becoming an established Medical Surgeon at the Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center. Dr. Christian L. Birkedal, MD is famous for weight loss surgery, otherwise known as bariatric surgery.

This is a type of procedure recommended to be performed on people who are obese. Weight loss is achieved by removing a portion of the stomach, biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch or sleeve gastrectomy, or by reducing the size of the stomach with an implanted medical device, also called gastric banding. Another procedure done to induce weight loss is the resecting and re-routing of the small intestine to a small stomach pouch or gastric bypass surgery.

Dr. Birkedal performs procedures such as Abscess Incision and Drainage, gallbladder surgery, abdominal surgery, gastric sleeve, adrenalectomy, adult breast cancer consultation, amputations, cholecystectomy, breast surgery, appendectomy, gastrectomy, foreign body removal, benign tumors, bowel resection, bowel surgery, breast biopsies, breast cancer, exploratory surgery, breast surgery, burn care, cancer, excisions of skin lesions, colon resection, colon cancer, breast lumpectomy, Crohn’s disease and axillary lymph node dissection, excisions of benign skin lesions, foreign body removal, ganglion of wrist and bariatric surgery (weight loss surgery) among others.

Dr. Birkedal Treats conditions such as spider veins and varicose veins. Both men and women can develop spider veins as age advances. Women though are more likely to develop spider veins rather than men. Exposure to sun and wind make men more prone to spider veins. Spider veins are identified as blue-purple colored veins that materialize under the skin but are noticeably seen from outside view on the face, legs and thighs. Mostly hereditary abnormalities in the veins, spider veins cause embarrassment due to its noticeable bruise like color. Varicose veins though are more painful compared to spider veins. Both are problems caused by blood circulation issues. Certain causes of spider veins are pregnancy, heredity, obesity, oral contraceptives, aging, hormonal issues, smoking, and occupation, sun and wind exposure and alcohol intake.
Dr. Christian L. Birkedal’soffice is located at 305 Memorial Medical Parkway Suite 205, Daytona Beach, Florida 32117. According to a recent survey, Dr. Birkedal’s clinic was given feedback with their experience and scored 4.2 out of 5 for likelihood of recommending to family and friends. Visit his clinic today.

3 Important Things that You Must Know About Bariatric Surgery

Bariatric surgery is a surgical operation done to lose weight. This is performed on people who are obese and whose weight does not go down despite dieting and exercise. Here are three important things that you must know about this type of surgery. 
  • Bariatric surgery or weight loss surgery is performed to help obese people lose weight. Most of the time, this is only resorted to when all other means were tried and failed like working out, dieting, and changing one’s lifestyle. Having health problems caused by obesity such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, sleep apnea, and impaired glucose torance, is also one reason to undergo this treatment.  Although modern medical technology has made this kind of operation safe, still, one cannot disregard the possibility of experiencing side effects like blood clots and infections.


  • There are several kinds of surgery performed to lose weight. These are sleeve gastrectomy, gastric banding, and gastric bypass surgery. In gastric banding, the size of the stomach is made smaller by implantation of a medical device. The reduced size of the stomach leads to reduction of food intake since it easily gets full. This could lead to reduced weight. Sleeve gastrectomy refers to the removal of some parts of the stomach, which also leads to the reduction of its size. With the use of a safe and effective minimally invasive surgery, only a small incision is made on the belly button. Because the wound is small, only a little amount of blood is lost and the risk of the wound getting infected is very nil. It also heals quickly, resulting to short hospital stay and less expense.  Gastric bypass surgery involves redirecting the small intestines to a stomach pouch that is smaller. A person who eats very little would feel that he is already full and stop eating. This results to weight loss. 

  • Surgery performed to achieve weight loss is known to have long-term effect and the person seldom regain his original weight. This proves it as an effective weight reduction strategy.  However, these procedures might have complications, resulting to more serious ailments and conditions.
For people who are obese, minimally invasive operation of the stomach is a source of hope. Performed by an expert, this surgical treatment could mean a better life because they would be safe from other serious illnesses that obesity brings. With proper surgery used, complications that could be fatal would be avoided and an obese person would have the chance to experience a better life.


4 Reasons to Employ Minimally Invasive Surgery to Remove Spider Veins

Spider veins or varicose veins refer to veins that have enlarged and are painful. These are usually found on the legs, although varicose veins may occur in other parts of the body.  Both men and women could have this problem but the effect is worse for women than men. Women hate the bulging veins in their legs because they make their legs unappealing.  In addition, they could also present some health risks.

There are several treatments recommended to reduce enlargement of the vein. Natural treatments include elevating the leg, regular exercise, wearing of special stockings, and applications of some topical gel, which helps reduce inflammation or swelling. However, these treatments are only temporary.  There are surgical procedures such as stripping of the saphenous veins but this could have some complications like deep vein thrombosis and the possibility of infection.


Nowadays, there is a surgical procedure that can help people get rid of the enlargement of their veins safely and this is known as minimally invasive surgery.  One of the experts in this field is Dr. Birkedal, whose training and practice involve using catheter to treat varicose veins. There are five reasons to use this type of surgery when dealing with varicose veins.

First, it is safe. The incision made is very small and after the catheter has been inserted and laser shot is delivered into the vein, the tiny wound is closed. There is no danger of infection of the wound.  The patient does not experience too much, which eliminates trauma.

Second, it is cost effective because there is no need to get admitted to a hospital. The procedure can be done in the doctor’s office. The doctor makes a tiny incision, inserts a catheter and delivers a laser shot, which causes the vein to collapse. The incision is closed and blood is rerouted to other veins.

Third, recovery is quick. After the treatment, the patient could go home right away. Hospitalization and other medications are not necessary.

Fourth, it has no side effects. Since the wound is very small, there is no possibility that it will get infected, such as what happens when stripping and more invasive surgery is performed.  Blood clots may form in the neighboring veins but they could be treated using blood thinners.

With this minimally invasive treatment, sufferers from varicose veins would find a solution to their problem with less expense and time.