Surgery/Specialties Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on March 11 announced the Class I recall of Arrow International Intra-Aortic Balloon Catheter Kits and Percutaneous Insertion Kits by Teleflex Incorporated (Wayne, Pennsylvania). Class I is the FDA’s most serious recall classification. The Kits are being recalled because the sheath body…
Editor's Note An immediate consultation between trauma surgeons and a geriatrician improved care and outcomes for elderly accident victims in this study. Researchers compared processes of care and clinical outcomes before and after a trauma surgery program began in September 2013 that automatically referred trauma patients aged 70 years and…
Editor's Note The surgical approach to total hip (ie, anterior or posterior) has no effect on outcomes at 6 months after surgery, finds this study presented March 3 at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Of 274 patients who had total hip replacements between June 2012…
Editor's Note Total hips can be performed safely and effectively on an outpatient basis, finds a study presented March 3 at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. The analysis included 549 patients who had mini-posterior arthroplasties at an ASC from 2008 to 2014 and were discharged…
Editor's Note If all total knee replacements were performed at high-volume hospitals, it could save the US healthcare system between $2.5 and $4 billion annually by 2030, finds a study presented March 4 at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. In this study of nearly 90,000…
Editor's Note Working 46 hours per week or more increases the long-term risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), this study finds. Beginning at 46 hours, increasing work hours were progressively associated with increased risk of CVD (ie, angina, coronary disease, heart failure, heart attack, high blood pressure, or stroke). Compared to…
Editor's Note Hypothermia is associated with an increased risk for surgical site infections (SSIs) in patients having surgery to repair a hip fracture, finds this study presented March 2 at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. Of 1,525 patients analyzed: hypothermia occurred in 13.2% of cases…
Editor's Note Obtaining organs from deceased donors in a freestanding facility dedicated to organ recovery costs much less and leads to higher numbers of transplantable organs, this study finds. Researchers evaluated 6 years of data from the nation’s first freestanding organ recovery facility located in St Louis and owned and…
Editor's Note Readmissions after total hip and knee replacements are associated with nurse staffing levels and poor nurse work environments, finds this study from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, Philadelphia. The study analyzed data on more than 112,000 Medicare patients in nearly 500 hospitals. Adjusting for patient and…
Editor's Note Implementing bundled payments for Medicare patients having total joint replacements resulted in improved quality of care and outcomes and reduced costs, finds this study presented March 2 at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. As a pilot site for Medicare’s Bundled Payment for Care…
