Editor's Note A GlobalData analysis predicts the US artificial disc replacement market will double by 2023, reaching $614.5 million, with a compound annual growth rate of 12.2%, the May 17 Becker’s Spine Review reports. The growth is a result of the increasing number of degenerative spine conditions and the advantages…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration on May 16 announced the recall by Abbott of specific lots of three coronary dilation and balloon catheters: NC Trek RX Coronary Dilation Catheter NC Traveler Coronary Dilation Catheter NC Tenku RX PTCA Balloon Catheter. The affected lots were manufactured between January 2015…

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Editor's Note Temperatures above 90o F were associated with a 28.9% increase in odds for surgical site infections (SSIs) compared to temperatures less than 40o F in this study. Analyzing data on millions of patients in the National Inpatient Sample database from 1998 to 2011, researchers found that SSIs were seasonal, with…

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Editor's Note In 2014, 58% of the 17.2 million hospital-based surgical procedures took place in outpatient settings, according to a report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The report, which helps to quantify ongoing shifts to more outpatient surgical procedures, found that the most common outpatient procedures…

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Editor's Note Intraoperative adverse events are independently associated with increased postoperative mortality, morbidity, and prolonged length of stay (LOS), this study finds. Of 9,288 abdominal surgical procedures analyzed, 183 had intraoperative adverse events. Most consisted of bowel (44%) or vessel (29%) injuries, which were addressed intraoperatively (92%). Multivariate analysis showed…

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Editor's Note A research group from the Global Center for Medical Engineering and Informatics, Osaka University, has developed a self-donning and self-adjusting surgical gown called “Selfgown,” the May 16 EurekaAlert reports. The new gown comprises a special spring along the neckline instead of strings, and the inner belt is removed…

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Editor's Note A mandatory change from surgical skull caps to bouffant caps in the OR did not reduce surgical site infections (SSIs), this study finds. In this analysis of 15,000 class I (clean) surgical procedures performed 13 months before and 13 months after surgical skull caps were banned at a…

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Editor's Note Training surgeons in bleeding control techniques so they can, in turn, teach the general public is an effective way to disseminate bleeding control knowledge and skills, finds this study. Of 341 surgeons who were trained and surveyed at the 2016 American College of Surgeons (ACS) Congress, 93.79% agreed…

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Editor's Note The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) on May 3 announced the release of a new toolkit to help ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) make care safer for their patients. The Toolkit to Improve Safety in Ambulatory Surgery Centers incorporates the core concepts of AHRQ’s Comprehensive Unit-based Safety…

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Editor's Note In this study, researchers developed a predictive model that can help identify patients at higher risk for prolonged postanesthesia care unit (PACU) stay after outpatient surgery. Data on 4,151 patients at the University of California, San Diego Healthcare Systems, from 2014 to 2015, was split into a training…

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