Surgery/Specialties Editor's Note The American Society of Anesthesiologists announced June 22 that the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) is participating in the development of the Perioperative Surgical Home (PSH) model of care. The expected benefits include enhanced clinical quality, better patient experience, lower complication rates and readmissions, reduce length of…
Editor's Note In this study, researchers from the University of California, Irvine, report on data for the second year of implementation of the total joint replacement Perioperative Surgical Home program. During the 2-year period there were 328 primary joint arthroplasty patients. Length of stay was significantly shorter in the second…
Editor's Note Significant variation exists in mortality across hospitals for colon cancer surgery, this study finds. The analysis included 3,025 patients who had colon surgery at 19 low-mortality (1,006) and 30 high-mortality (2,019) hospitals. Researchers found a wide difference in mortality between high-mortality and low-mortality hospitals (9.3% vs 2.4%). Compared with…
Editor's Note In this modeling study of previously unscreened 40-years olds undergoing colorectal cancer screening, the following screening strategies from ages 50 to 75 years were estimated to provide similar life years gained and a comparable balance of benefit and screening burden: colonoscopy every 10 years annual fecal immunochemical testing…
Orthopedic services are evolving. Total joint patients are younger and healthier, the technology has improved, and procedures are moving to the ambulatory setting. The desire for same-day discharge has raised the bar for provider performance and increased competition among facilities that are adding total joints to their service lines. Younger…
Some healthcare facility leaders have managed to reduce or even eliminate the incidence of retained surgical items (RSIs), but vulnerability remains despite increased focus on this problem. A 2015 article in the Journal of the American Medical Association cited a median estimate for RSIs: one event per 10,000 procedures, with…
Editor's Note Orlando Regional Medical Center treated 44 of the Pulse nightclub shooting victims; nine died, the June 14 Modern Healthcare reports. A total of 26 surgical procedures were performed early Sunday morning, June 12, six more were performed on Monday, and eight were performed on Tuesday, June 14, with…
Editor's Note A 16-hour delay from emergency department (ED) admission or a 12-hour delay from hospital admission to performance of an appendectomy was not associated with an increased risk of surgical site infections (SSIs), in this study. Of 1,338 patients included in the study, 70% had a diagnosis of simple…
Editor's Note Healthcare disparities are widely established and include differential access, care, and outcomes stemming from factors such as minority group and socioeconomic status, finds this meta-analysis. In this examination of 328 studies of healthcare disparities, researchers identified five major themes for causes of surgical disparities: patient factors−demographic, physiologic, and…
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on June 1 issued a safety alert that the agency had received reports of US patients infected with Mycobacterium chimaera after undergoing cardiothoracic surgery that involved the use of the Stockert 3T Heater-Cooler System by Sorin Group Deustchland GmbH. Efforts are underway…
