Editor's Note University of California San Francisco (UCSF) became the first university to certify medical students as robotic surgery bedside assistants, giving future surgeons unprecedented hands-on training in a rapidly growing field, an August 25 UCSF news release reports. The program reportedly positions learners alongside attending surgeons, nurses, and scrub…
Editor's Note A freezing technique applied during heart surgery is reducing pain, shortening recovery times, and minimizing the need for narcotics, News 9/CBS News August 13 reports. The procedure, called cryo nerve ablation, involves freezing nerves around the ribs to block pain signals for about 60 days. The nerves eventually…
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officially declared the nationwide shortage of sodium chloride 0.9% injection products over, saying a critical supply line for hospitals and surgical teams is restored. According to an August 8 statement from FDA Commissioner Martin A. Makary, MD, MPH, the resolution marks a…
Editor's Note Designating underused neurosurgery blocks for straightforward ENT procedures increased surgical volume and reduced wait times at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital San Francisco, according to a July 3 report from the Children’s Hospital Association’s 2025 Transforming Quality Conference. The initiative began in early 2024, when ENT leaders and surgical…
Editor's Note Surgeons at Duke and Vanderbilt universities have devised simpler methods to retrieve donor hearts after circulatory death, according to a July 16 report from the Associated Press (AP). The research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, details successful heart transplants using organs from donors whose hearts…
When Betsy Grunch, MD, FAANS, FACS, FCNS, board-certified neurosurgeon known on TikTok and Instagram as @Ladyspinedoc, watched a viral video of a surgeon berating an OR nurse during a livestreamed procedure, she was incredibly bothered by the shameful display. She took to her popular platform and spoke out against that…
Editor's Note The nomination deadline for the 2025 OR Manager Awards has been extended to July 30, providing extra time to recognize the perioperative leaders who inspire you most. Each year, the OR Manager of the Year, PACU Leader of the Year, and Ambulatory Nurse Leader of the Year are…
Editor's Note A Florida transplant team has performed the first-ever heart-liver transplant in a patient supported by a left ventricular assist device (LVAD), offering a potential new treatment route for those previously ineligible due to high rejection risk, CBS News reported June 21. The patient, whose antibody levels placed her…
Editor's Note A Florida-based surgeon successfully performed a prostate cancer surgery on a patient in Angola—7,000 miles away—marking a major milestone in transcontinental robotic telesurgery, according to a June 17 article from ABC News. The procedure, conducted by Dr. Vipul Patel of Advent Health’s Global Robotic Institute, is reportedly the…
Editor's Note Do you know a perioperative leader who deserves to be honored before their peers at a gathering of virtually the entire industry? This is just one way we honor the recipients of our annual OR Manager Awards—OR Manager of the Year, PACU Leader of the Year, and Ambulatory…