Editor's Note Advances in diagnostic imaging technology have resulted in more trauma patients being diagnosed with blunt cerebrovascular injuries, which has resulted in a significant decline in stroke and mortality, this study finds. From 1985 to the end of 2015, the percentage of blunt trauma patients diagnosed with blunt cerebrovascular…

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Editor's Note Three out of four surgery patients may be receiving anticoagulants they don’t need, the January 23 EurekAlert reports.  Researchers reviewed 14,776 records from 13 studies to determine which surgical patients would and would not benefit from anticoagulants. High-risk patients who were given anticoagulants had a significantly decreased risk…

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Editor's Note New Massachusetts (Mass) state regulations approved January 11 allow freestanding ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) to apply for permission to expand or offer new lines of procedures without being affiliated with an acute care hospital, the January 19 Enterprise News reports. The new regulations lift a 20-year moratorium on…

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Editor's Note In this study of flexible gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopes, none demonstrated clinically relevant contamination at hang times ranging from 7 to 555 days, and most remained uncontaminated up to 56 days after reprocessing. The data suggest that properly cleaned and disinfected GI endoscopes could be stored safely for longer…

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Editor's Note In this meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis, triclosan-coated sutures were shown to be effective in preventing surgical site infections (SSIs). A total of 21 randomized clinical trials, involving 6,462 patients, were included. The meta-analysis found a risk of 138 SSIs per 1,000 procedures, and the use of triclosan-coated…

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Editor's Note The American College of Surgeons (ACS) on January 20 notified members that it had received a letter from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) saying new moderate sedation codes that took effect January 1 were incorrectly bundled into several surgical procedures codes in CMS payment software.…

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Editor's Note Hospitals managing the highest volume of deceased organ donors were 52% more likely to recover an above-average number of transplantable organs per donor than low-volume hospitals in this study. The study included data from 4,427 donors across 384 hospitals. High-volume hospitals had an organ yield (ie, rate of…

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Editor's Note The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has developed two e-learning modules on informed consent that will be available through the Joint Commission’s learning management system for continuing education credit. The modules, which are available for free: help hospital leaders provide guidance on developing policies and ensuring…

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Editor's Note Implementation of Lean system redesigns was associated with a significant and sustained wait list reduction from 33.4 days to 12.0 days for patients waiting for elective general surgery procedures at a Veterans Affairs medical center, this study finds. The study covered FY 2012 to 2014. At the same…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on January 17 issued a Safety Communication to inform Pentax ED-3490TK video duodenoscope users of updated recommendations to help prevent the spread of infection associated with the use of these devices. Since a February 19, 2016, Safety Communication to inform users about…

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