Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on February 6 posted a letter that was sent to healthcare providers to increase their awareness of the association between all breast implants, regardless of filling or texture, and breast implant associated-anaplastic large cell lymphoma (BIA-ALCL). As of September 30, 2018, the…

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Editor's Note Closely monitoring of brain activity with electroencephalography (EEG) and minimizing anesthesia in older patients during surgery had no significant effect on the occurrence of delirium after surgery, but it was linked to lower 30-day mortality, this study finds. In this analysis of 1,232 older surgical patients, researchers assigned…

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Editor's Note This study from a large academic medical center finds that the practice of overlapping surgery does not expose patients to increased risk of negative outcomes. Data on operative procedures from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2015 at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, were used to compare…

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Editor's Note Adductor canal nerve block (ACB) provides modest analgesic benefits after ambulatory arthroscopic knee surgery, including improved relief for rest pain for 8 hours and reduced opioid consumption for 24 hours, this meta-analysis finds. However, ACB did not provide any analgesic benefits and did not improve any outcomes, compared…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on January 23 announced that it is reinstating the individual mechanical thrombectomy volume eligibility requirement for the Thrombectomy-Capable Stroke Center (TSC) and Comprehensive Stroke Center (CSC) certification programs. The Joint Commission is also implementing a revised volume requirement in 6 months that expands which physicians…

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Editor's Note Medtronic published an urgent recall on January 7 for a subset of its dual-chamber pacemakers because some may temporarily lose their ability to pace the heart. The recall affects 156,957 devices distributed worldwide between March 10, 2017, and January 7, 2019, under the brand names Adapta, Versa, and…

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Editor's Note An automated text messaging system increased patient engagement with home-based exercise and promoted faster recovery after knee and hip replacements, this study finds. In this analysis of 159 patients (83 controls, 76 intervention) having total knee or hip replacement surgery, those receiving timely texts showed improvement in the…

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Editor's Note The Healthcare Quarterly report by Moody’s Investors Service shows the orthopedics and spine sectors increasingly performing robotic-assisted procedures, the January 18 Becker’s Spine Review reports. This is resulting in strong growth for device firms with major investments in these specialties, particularly Medtronic with its Mazor robotics platform for…

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Editor's Note In this study, postoperative delirium had a negative association with 30- and 90-day cognition in all participating patients. However, patients with preoperative cognitive impairment had an improvement in cognition at 30 and 90 days after surgery, but this increase was attenuated if the patient experienced postoperative delirium. This…

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Editor's Note ICU readmission risk for surgical patients can be predicted using a simple, clinical nomogram based on seven demographic and physiologic variables, this study finds. Of 3,109 patients admitted to the ICU by general surgery, transplant, trauma, and vascular surgery services, there were 141 (5%) unplanned readmissions within 72…

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