Editor's Note The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) on August 23 issued 16 penalties to 13 hospitals and fines of more than $1 million. Among the penalties issued, four were OR related: OR fire unintended retention of a foreign object (blue towel) wrong site surgery malfunction of a heart-lung…

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Editor's Note In this position paper, three global surgery groups advocate for global surgeons based in US academic healthcare centers. Though 30% of all diseases globally require surgical care and expertise, global surgeons based in academic healthcare centers often face institutional barriers that make it difficult to take time to…

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Editor's Note Led by Martin A. Makary, MD, MPH, a Johns Hopkins panel of experts developed the nation’s first set of opioid prescribing guidelines for 20 common surgical procedures in 8 surgical specialties. The guidelines are based on the premise that opioid prescribing should be based on the surgical procedure…

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Editor's Note In this study, implementation of Lean interventions to redesign the workflow in the preoperative holding area of a large urban medical center was linked to significantly improved rates of elective first case on-time starts. Data from 23,891 surgical procedures performed over 415 days were examined−86 days before, 35…

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Editor's Note This study finds that irregularly shaped OR surfaces may require enhanced covering, cleaning, and monitoring protocols, compared to more regularly shaped surfaces. Researchers coupled ATP assays with traditional RODAC plate sampling and mass spectrometry to evaluate cleaning of five types of high-touch surfaces in the OR.  Whether surfaces…

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Editor's Note The number of door openings in the OR and duration of procedure were significantly associated with increased colony-forming units (CFUs) in the OR overall and outside of laminar airflow (LAF), this study finds. In LAF conditions, however, only the number of OR personnel was significantly associated with increased…

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Editor's Note This study, which examined the relationship between nursing specialty certification and surgical site infections (SSIs), found that only Magnet status was associated with lower SSI rates. Analyzing data from 69 hospitals, 346 units, and 6,585 RNs, along with SSI data on 22,188 patients after colon and abdominal hysterectomy…

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Editor's Note After implementing two presurgery checklists from the American College of Surgeons Strong for Surgery (S4S) program, most diabetic patients met blood sugar control recommendations, and many patients quit smoking before surgery. Use of the checklists along with an Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) approach resulted in decreased length…

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Editor's Note In high-risk hip fracture patients, an Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) program lowers mortality rates, reduces hospital stays, and results in fewer complications, finds this study presented July 23 at the American College of Surgeons 2018 Quality and Safety Conference in Orlando, Florida. Results showed that ERAS: cut…

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Editor's Note In adults more than 70 years of age, exposure to general anesthesia and surgery was associated with a subtle decline in memory and thinking skills in this study. Of 1,819 patients in the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging, exposure to anesthesia after age 70 was linked to long-term…

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