Editor's Note Hospital and surgeon payments for routine general and orthopedic surgical procedures vary greatly, this study finds. Hospital payments averaged $12,744 for general surgery procedures and $22,386 for orthopedic procedures. Orthopedic surgeon reimbursement on average was twice as high as general surgeon payments ($2,349 vs $1,191). Postoperative complications resulted…

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Editor's Note Overlapping surgical procedures are safe and provide the same outcomes for patients as non-overlapping procedures, this study finds. The analysis of 10,614 overlapping surgical procedures performed at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, found no difference in the rates of postoperative complications or deaths within a month after surgery,…

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Editor's Note Surgical residents who perceived negative effects of The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education’s duty hour policies on patient safety were more likely to violate duty hour policies, this study finds. Of 4,554 residents in 184 programs analyzed: 25.3% felt the current duty hour policies negatively affected patient…

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Editor's Note In this study, a Risk Analysis Index was found to measure frailty in surgical patients with predictive ability equal to other frailty tools, with an additional advantage of rapid, real-time, preoperative assessment feasible for guiding surgical decision making. The Index measures frailty prospectively using a questionnaire or retrospectively…

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Editor's Note Intraoperative adverse events are independently associated with substantial increases in 30-day postoperative mortality, morbidity, and prolonged length of stay in abdominal surgery patients, this study finds. Postoperative complications associated with intraoperative adverse events included deep/organ-space surgical site infections, sepsis, pneumonia, and failure to wean from ventilator. Of 9,288…

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Editor's Note The American College of Surgeons (ACS) on October 31 announced a new initiative to improve the knowledge and management of pain in surgical patients, with a focus on opioid risks and non-opioid alternatives. The initiative, titled, “Opioids and Surgery: Use, Abuse, and Alternatives,” will encompass the following: evidence-based…

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Editor's Note Patient level factors dominated the increased readmission risks after colorectal surgery at minority-serving hospitals, while hospital factors were less contributory, this study finds. Patient factors accounted for 65% of the increase in odds for readmission, and hospital-level factors accounted for 40%. Inpatient mortality was significantly greater at minority-serving…

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Editor's Note The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) on October 28 recognized 60 of 603 participating hospitals for achieving meritorious outcomes in surgical patient care in 2015. The recognition program commends a select group of hospitals for achieving a meritorious composite score that is…

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Editor's Note Researchers from the University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, have developed a risk prediction tool, called a “nomogram,” that uses a scoring system to determine a patient’s risk for returning to the surgical ICU within 72 hours after discharge. The study was presented October 20…

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Editor's Note Only half of departments of surgery in the US have established mentorship programs, and most are informal, unstructured, and do not involve all of the key stakeholders, this study finds. Of 155 chairs of departments of surgery surveyed 76 responded, for a 49% response rate. A total of…

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