Surgery/Specialties Editor's Note ICU readmission risk for surgical patients can be predicted using a simple, clinical nomogram based on seven demographic and physiologic variables, this study finds. Of 3,109 patients admitted to the ICU by general surgery, transplant, trauma, and vascular surgery services, there were 141 (5%) unplanned readmissions within 72…
Editor's Note Education of surgical interns on postoperative analgesia was effective in preparing them for judicious opioid prescribing, this study finds. An education session on postoperative analgesia prescribing was presented to 31 incoming surgical interns by surgical residents. Before the education session was started, few interns felt comfortable prescribing opioids…
Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on January 8 identified the recall of Medtronic’s Synergy Cranial Software and Stealth Station S7 Cranial Software as Class I, the most serious. The Software is used with the Stealth Station Surgical Navigation System to provide detailed 3D images of a patient’s…
Editor's Note No significant difference was found between endoscopic and open vein–graft harvesting in the risk of major adverse cardiac events, in this study. This analysis of 1,150 patients in 16 Veterans Affairs cardiac surgery centers found that during a median follow-up of 2.78 years, the primary outcome of a…
Editor's Note Implementation of AORN’s 2015 guidelines for OR attire, which also were adopted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, has not decreased surgical site infections (SSIs) and has increased healthcare costs, this study finds. For the study, data were collected on general, cardiac, neuro-, orthopaedic, and gynecologic…
Editor's Note To reduce contamination of the surgeon in the OR, the two-person gowning technique must be highly monitored, or the single-person gowning technique should be used, finds this study from the department of orthopedic surgery and rehabilitation at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City. For the…
Editor's Note In the first 2 years of Medicare’s Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) program, there was a modest reduction in spending per procedure without an increase in complication rates, this study finds. Comparing costs associated with 280,161 joint replacement procedures in 803 hospitals required to participate in the…
Editor's Note An annual poll from Gallup found nurses rated the highest among professions in the US for their honesty and ethical standards for the 17th straight year. A total of 84% of respondents rated the honesty and ethical standards of nurses as “very high” or “high.” Physicians came in…
Total joint replacements contribute hefty profits to hospitals and healthcare systems. Once the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) starts reimbursing surgery centers—as is done for hospital outpatient surgery departments (HOPDs)—the competition between hospitals, HOPDs, and ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) will intensify. “Total joints are the hot ticket in…
Editor's Note In this study, an ultrarestrictive opioid prescribing strategy was associated with a reduction in the number of pills dispensed without changes in postoperative pain, complications, or increases in prescription refill requests. In this case-control 2-year analysis of 1,231 women having surgery for gynecologic cancer, those having ambulatory or…
