The concept of using natural orifices is not new, said Dr. Mark Talamini, professor and chairman of the Department of Surgery at UCSD.

CNN: Use of natural openings may ease weight-loss surgery

There are so many different treatment options for varicose veins, it's best to get a second opinion, according to Dr. Julie Fleishlag, chair of the department of surgery at Johns Hopkins.

CNN: Five diagnoses that call for a second opinion

Andrew Lee, director of the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Johns Hopkins.

CNN: Iraq vet undergoes successful double-arm transplant

At People's Ninth Hospital in Shanghai, a public hospital that is the city's busiest for cosmetic surgery, there were 50, 000 cosmetic operations in 2011, a 50% increase in five years, according to Qi Zuoliang, deputy director of the plastic-surgery department.

ECONOMIST: A growing obsession with the body beautiful

The Department of Health said a suspension on the use of such equipment in tonsil and adenoid surgery in England was likely to remain in place.

BBC: Surgical instrument inquiry call

Rapid-prototyping machines have, for example, shortened the casting process for facial and cranial plates used in reconstructive surgery, says Robin Richards at the department of medical physics at University College, London.

ECONOMIST: MONITOR

Dr. Eric Kodish, the professor and chairman of the Cleveland Clinic's Department of Bioethics, said doctors thought she would adhere to medications after the surgery.

CNN: Surgery transplanted most of patient's face