Surgery/Specialties Editor's Note Researchers at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) and the University Hospital Dresden (UKD) have developed a portable, droplet-based millifluidic device that can monitor patients for postoperative pancreatic fistula in the critical first days after surgery. The same technology might also be expanded to analyze other body fluids and diseases.…
Editor's Note Surgeons in Lincoln, Nebraska performed the first “operation” in space via remote control of a robot wielding scissors to cut through rubber bands, a historic first that has implications beyond space travel. Space.com reported the news February 22. Guided by onboard cameras and facing nearly second-long communications delays,…
The Competency & Credentialing Institute (CCI) is excited to announce a new development in our certified perioperative nurse (CNOR®) certification program: the introduction of specialty designations. Now, perioperative nurses can specialize in cardiac, bariatric, orthopedic, or vascular surgery, just as RNs can choose oncology, pediatrics, or emergency. A specialty designation…
What is the purpose of the top 10 health technology hazards list, released every year by ECRI? “Our number one goal at ECRI is to reduce preventable harm,” stresses Jason Launders, MSC, former director of operations, device evaluation, at ECRI. “We know that every healthcare provider has a lot they…
Editor's Note In a recent study, black children undergoing emergency appendectomy had a four times greater risk of postoperative complications than white children, independent of socioeconomic status or type of appendicitis. Anaesthesia, the journal of the Association of Anaesthetists, published the findings February 22. Researchers note that this is the…
Editor's Note What researchers say is the first systematic review and meta-analysis to report on bone health outcomes from pediatric bariatric surgery shows the procedure is highly effective at achieving weight loss amid a childhood obesity crisis of epidemic proportions. However, the surgery also could put patients at greater risk…
Editor's Note Using intravascular imaging to guide stent implantation during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) provides significantly better outcomes than angiography, according to findings published February 21 in The Lancet. In a study of 15,964 patients undergoing PCI from 22 trials in hundreds of centers from March 2010 to August 2023,…
Editor's Note A recent double-blind, randomized controlled trial could not prove that minimally invasive sacroiliac joint fusion was any more effective than sham surgery in treating severe sacroiliac joint pain. “With these findings, there should be discussion in the medical community whether an irreversible surgical procedure with related risks and…
Editor's Note A recent study suggests a single dose of intrathecal morphine provides long-lasting analgesia and reduces the need for postoperative systemic administration of opioids after painful open urological procedures. The Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing published the data January 31. Intrathecal opioid administration is an attractive technique in these surgeries…
There is movement happening in the world of surgical gowns. It is driven in part by the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought new focus to the need for adequate stockpiles of personal protective equipment (PPE)—and for PPE that works as intended. Staff need to know their gowns incorporate the latest technology…
