Editor's Note A Florida-based surgeon successfully performed a prostate cancer surgery on a patient in Angola—7,000 miles away—marking a major milestone in transcontinental robotic telesurgery, according to a June 17 article from ABC News. The procedure, conducted by Dr. Vipul Patel of Advent Health’s Global Robotic Institute, is reportedly the…

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Editor's Note Recent research shows robotic-assisted cholecystectomy (RAC) results in similar bile duct injury rates as laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC), but risks are higher for postoperative complications, longer hospital stays, and more frequent drain use. Published May 21 in JAMA Surgery, the large-scale cohort study analyzed outcomes from over 844,000 acute…

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Editor's Note A recent study shows potentially significant promise for preoperative virtual reality (VR) simulation to improve surgical patient outcomes. Published March 1 in the American Journal of Critical Care, the research details how VR reduced ICU sedation and ventilator time for patients undergoing elective cardiothoracic surgery. Although the program…

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Editor's Note Surgical removal of enlarged tonsils and adenoids significantly decreases medical visits and prescription use in children with mild sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), according to a March 17 study in JAMA Pediatrics. Supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the study found that adenotonsillectomy led to a 32% reduction…

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Editor's Note Subtle risk factors—such as low BMI and hidden tumors—could lead to unexpected airway management difficulties, according to research published on March 17 in Nature: Scientific Reports. The case-control study analyzed 672 surgical patients who required endotracheal intubation between 2015 and 2020. Researchers compared 168 patients who experienced difficult…

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Editor's Note The US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has approved immunotherapy durvalumab for perioperative treatment of resectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to an August 15 announcement. The approval is for durvalumab (Imfinzi, AstraZeneca) in combination with platinum-based chemotherapy as a neoadjuvant treatment, followed by durvalumab alone as…

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Editor's Note The FDA has announced a recall of the Atrium Express Dry Suction Dry Seal Chest Drain, a disposable device used to remove air and/or fluid from the chest cavity or mediastinum and to aid in lung expansion and breathing. The drain is being recalled by maker Maquet Cardiovascular,…

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Editor's Note A new study in the Annals of Thoracic Surgery finds that long-term survival rates are extremely promising for patients who receive low-risk isolated surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR). The study, titled "Survival Following Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement in Low-Risk Patients: A Contemporary Trial Benchmark," was published on October…

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Editor's Note This study from the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, examines the association between long-standing poverty and postoperative outcomes. The analysis included 335, 595 patients who underwent lung resection, colectomy, coronary artery bypass grafting, or lower extremity joint replacement, and who were categorized according to the duration…

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Editor's Note A multidisciplinary cardiovascular intensive care unit (CVICU) team at Vanderbilt University Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, recently conducted a bedside surgery simulation of a resternotomy to develop a new protocol for the lifesaving procedure, according to the June 15 VUMC Reporter. When a cardiac surgical patient starts bleeding postoperatively…

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