Surgery
FDA: Class I recall of King Systems’ video laryngoscope adapter
Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on February 27 identified the recall by King Systems of its King Vision Video Laryngoscope Adapter (size ½) as Class I, the most serious. The recall was initiated because all devices from the affected lots show a reversed image on the display,…
Preop cancer-related malnutrition depends on cancer type
Editor's Note Common definitions of malnutrition do not apply to all cancers, and the best approach for surgeons to identify malnourished cancer patients preoperatively is specifically related to the type of cancer the patient has, this study finds. Of 205,840 major cancer surgical procedures for six different cancers analyzed: 16%…
Study: Inadequate precleaning can jeopardize sterilization of surgical tools
Editor's Note This study by William A. Rutala, PhD, MPH, and colleagues at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which compared three low-temperature sterilization technologies to steam sterilization of simulated inadequately precleaned surgical tools, found steam sterilization to be the most effective and with the largest margin of…
CDC urges communities, hospitals to prepare for spread of coronavirus
Editor's Note In a February 25 telebriefing, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned that the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) will spread in the US, and hospitals and communities should begin ramping up their preparedness efforts, AHA Today reports. The CDC urged communities to implement non-pharmaceutical interventions or community…
Effect of total joint bundled payment program on patient selection
Editor's Note In this study, researchers found little to no significant change in the characteristics of patients having total hip and knee replacement surgery after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services introduced the mandatory bundled payment programs in selected metropolitan statistical areas. The analysis included a matched set of…
CMS proposes changes to total joint bundled payment program
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on February 20 issued a rule proposing changes to the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) program, which bundles payments to acute care hospitals for hip and knee replacement surgical procedures. CMS proposes extending the CJR model for an additional…
Breathing easier in a smoke-free health system
Controlling electrosurgical smoke is a major challenge in many ORs. In 1996, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health published a policy on controlling smoke from lasers and electrosurgical procedures, and over the years, studies have linked adverse health effects with electrosurgical smoke exposure. Yet healthcare providers have differing…
Using project management principles to hardwire ERAS protocols
Implementation of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Health System in Richmond has been achieved through project and change management tools that transform the current state to the desired future state. To hardwire ERAS protocols in the OR as well as the ambulatory and acute care…
Using smartphones to capture patient differences in postop physical recovery
Editor's Note Metrics derived from smartphone accelerometer data can capture differences in postoperative physical recovery in surgical patients, this study finds. In this analysis of 62 patients, smartphone accelerometer data showed decreases in daily exertional activity in 17 who experienced a postoperative event (eg, complication, reoperation) up to 6 weeks…
Association of geriatric-specific characteristics with postop readmissions
Editor's Note In this study from the University of Virginia, new geriatric-specific characteristics were found to raise the risk of elderly surgical patients having unplanned readmissions within a month of leaving the hospital. The four geriatric-specific risk factors for readmission include: cognitive impairment requiring another person to sign the patient’s…
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