Editor's Note The American College of Surgeons on June 6 called for interested hospitals to join a new cohort of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Safety Program for Improving Surgical Care and Recovery (ISCR). In the program, presented in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins Medicine Armstrong Institute…

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Editor's Note The opioid epidemic has expanded the pool of overdose-death donors (ODDs) for heart transplantation. Even though ODDs have higher rates of hepatitis C, cardiac allograft quality indices are favorable, and recipient outcomes are similar to those with non-ODD hearts, this study finds. Of 15,904 heart transplant donors analyzed,…

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Editor's Note Multimodal analgesia with minimal opiates improved pain control and significantly decreased opiate use and opiate-related adverse effects after discharge from elective total hip replacement surgery, finds this study. The 235 patients analyzed received one of three discharge pain regimens: Group A: scheduled-dose multimodal analgesia (ie, acetaminophen, meloxicam, gabapentin)…

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Editor's Note There is a substantial economic value for policy and organizational expenditures for physician burnout reduction programs, this study finds. A conservative base-case model estimates that about $4.6 billion in costs is attributable to physician burnout each year in the US because of physician turnover and reduced clinical hours.…

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Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration on May 30 identified the recall by Terumo Medical Corporation (Somerset, New Jersey) of its SOLOPATH Balloon Expandable TransFemoral System and Re-Collapsible Balloon Access System as Class I, the most serious. The recall was initiated because the tip could dislodge from the outer…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on May 29 announced performance measures for two newly developed advanced Disease-Specific Care Certification programs−Acute Heart Attack Ready and Primary Heart Attack Center. The measures will go into effect July 1, 2019, for critical access hospitals and hospitals (including freestanding emergency departments) pursuing these certifications.…

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Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration on May 24 identified the recall by Integra LifeSciences of its LimiTorr Volume Limiting Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) Drainage System and the MoniTorr Intracranial Pressure (ICP) External CSF Drainage and Monitoring System as Class I, the most serious. The recall was initiated because of…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on May 21 issued Quick Safety 49: Disinfection of tonometers and other ophthalmology devices. The Joint Commission noted that the American Academy of Ophthalmology has reported that transmission of adenovirus and herpes simplex virus HIV, hepatitis C virus, enterovirus 70, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus,…

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Editor's Note Targeting a patient’s mean arterial pressure (MAP) during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) by monitoring cerebral blood flow autoregulation may reduce the incidence of delirium after cardiac surgery in older patients, this Johns Hopkins study finds. In this analysis of 199 patients, the incidence of delirium was significantly greater in…

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Editor's Note Stryker announced on May 20 that the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) granted premarket approval for its Neuroform Atlas stent system for intracranial aneurysms, the May 20 MassDevice reports.   The self-expanding nitinol stent can now be used with neurovascular embolization coils to treat patients with saccular wide-necked…

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