Surgery
Disparities in access to elective surgical procedures during recovery phase of pandemic
Editor's Note This study from the University of California, San Francisco, finds that patient access to elective surgical procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic recovery phase was limited by disparities based on age, language, marital status, insurance, socioeconomic status, and distance from care. Among the findings: The number of patients with…
Comparison of postop opioids prescribed by APCs vs surgeons
Editor's Note This study from the University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, finds that postoperative opioid prescriptions written by advanced practice clinicians (APCs), defined as nurse practitioners and physician assistants, had higher total dosages compared with those written by surgeons. A total of 628,197 surgical procedures involving 581,387 adults…
FDA: Class I recall of Arrow central venous access and catheter kits
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on December 16 identified the recall by Teleflex and Arrow International, LLC, of its Arrow MAC Two-Lumen Central Venous Access Kits and Arrow Pressure Injectable Arrowg+ard Blue Plus Three-Lumen Central Venous Catheter (CVC) Kits as Class I, the most serious. The recall…
FDA: Class I recall of Arrow AutoCAT2, AC3 IABPs
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), on December 20, identified the recall by Arrow International, LLC, subsidiary of Teleflex, Inc, of its Arrow AutoCAT 2 and AC3 intra-aortic balloon pumps (IABPs) as Class I, the most serious. IABPs are used in patients having cardiac and non-cardiac surgery, and…
ASC challenge: Recruiting and retaining surgical technologists
According to the 2022 OR Manager Salary/Career Survey, many ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) are facing a critical shortage of surgical technologists (STs). The percentage of leaders reporting an increase in the number of ST open positions jumped from 22% in 2020 and 28% in 2021 to 42% in 2022, and…
Time to surgery after COVID-19 linked to postop CV complications
Editor's Note This study from Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, finds that increased time from COVID-19 diagnosis to having a surgical procedure was linked to decreased odds of experiencing major postoperative cardiovascular (CV) complications. A total of 3,997 adult patients who had a previous diagnosis of COVID-19 and underwent…
Bypassing PACU after hip, knee arthroplasties
Editor's Note This prospective Danish study finds that transfer to a postanesthesia care unit (PACU) immediately after elective hip and knee arthroplasty might be unnecessary in low-risk patients. A total of 696 total knee (274), total hip (287), and unicompartmental knee (135) arthroplasty patients were analyzed. Of those, 307 bypassed…
Augmented and virtual reality bring high-tech efficiency to the OR
COVID-19 was a catalyst that helped accelerate innovation in healthcare by a decade, says Jay Banerjee, chief operating officer and cofounder of ImmersiveTouch, a virtual reality (VR) surgery company in Chicago. “Many things that would have taken 20 to 30 years happened sooner,” Banerjee says. “Telemedicine; electronic health records; remote…
Editorial
After writing my latest article on surgical robots (Operationalizing a robotics program for evenings, weekends, pp 13–15, 19) for this issue of OR Manager, I reminisced on how the surgical robot has evolved and how my interest in surgical robots began. Reminiscing about robots It all began with the…
Operationalizing a robotics program for evenings, weekends
The St Elizabeth Healthcare organization in northern Kentucky has eight facilities, including two surgery centers. The flagship hospital on the Edgewood campus has 534 beds and 22 ORs and typically performs some 14,000 surgical procedures per year. Robots help manage the volume. The Edgewood, Florence, and Ft Thomas hospitals have…
Free Daily News
- Large-scale studies link preoperative cognition to delirium risk, reveal its deadly toll after surgery
- Socioeconomic deprivation linked to lower fitness before surgery, UK study finds
- Perioperative medication decisions need individualized risk-benefit approach
- FDA: National IV saline shortage over after years of strained supply
- FDA announces Class 1 recall for Draeger breathing filters
- Hospital CEO departures surge, boards turn to interim leadership
- Study: Attire shapes patient trust, perceptions
- ASC drill success hinges on preparation, adaptability, clear roles
- Robotic surgery shows better outcomes in select emergency colorectal cases, poised for wider use
- 5 costly mistakes to avoid when building an ASC