Effect of oscillation and lung expansion on postop pulmonary complications
Editor's Note In this study, aggressive pulmonary treatment after surgery with oscillation and lung expansion (OLE) reduced the rate of postoperative pulmonary complications in high-risk patients having open thoracic, aortic, or upper abdominal surgery. A total of 419 patients (209 with OLE treatment and 210 without) were included in the…
FDA: Class I recall of Ellipse Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators
Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration on August 5 identified the recall by Abbott (formerly St Jude Medical Inc) of its Ellipse Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators as Class I, the most serious. The recall was initiated because electrical failures have been identified that are due to a faulty manufacturing process…
Association of US News top ranking for gastroenterology, GI surgical procedures with outcomes
Editor's Note Though the annual volume of gastroenterology and gastrointestinal (GI) advanced laparoscopic abdominal surgical procedures is three-fold higher for US News & World Report’s top-ranked hospitals, the volume does not appear to be associated with improved patient outcomes, this study finds. In this analysis of 51,869 abdominal procedures, the…
Sleep deprivation in acute care surgeons
Editor's Note Acute and chronic sleep deprivation patterns are common in acute care surgeons and worsen on post-call day 2, finds this study. In this analysis of 1,421 nights for 17 acute care surgeons, the average amount of sleep was 6.54 hours, with 64.8% of sleep patterns categorized as acute…
Joint Commission issues new Sentinel Event Alert on managing risks of direct oral anticoagulants
Editor's Note In response to an increase in adverse events related to direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs), the Joint Commission, on July 31, issued a new Sentinel Event Alert on managing DOAC risks. The alert: provides guidance for safe use and management of DOACs stresses understanding the risks, benefits, side effects,…
You may also be interested in these sessions at the OR Manager Conference this September in Nashville, TN
Break Loose From OR Holds: Confronting Throughput Challenges in Your PACU
After this session you'll be able to: Identify key areas of patient flow that can be redirected to enhance throughput and minimize holds. Discuss whether the OR should be on hold status when there are no PACU beds. Recognize signs that your hospital system is in need of an interface…
Preop opioid score not linked to adverse outcomes after spine surgery
Editor's Note NarxCare, an opioid-use score based on state prescription databases, is not associated with adverse outcomes or patient satisfaction after elective spine surgery, this study finds. Multivariate logistic regression analysis of 346 elective spine surgery patients did not find statistically significant odds of experiencing adverse events, readmissions, reoperations, and…
CMS maintains site-neutral cuts in 2020 proposed rule
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on July 29 issued the 2020 proposed payment rule for ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) and hospital outpatient departments (HOPDs), which would increase Medicare hospital outpatient prospective payment system rates by 2.7%. CMS is also proposing to add eight codes to…
Coffee lets colorectal surgery patients recover, go home faster
Editor's Note Postoperative coffee intake after elective laparoscopic colorectal resection leads to a faster recovery of bowel function and decreases hospital length of stay, this study from Switzerland finds. A total of 115 patients were randomly assigned to the intervention group (56) receiving coffee or the control group (59) receiving…
US News publishes 2019-2020 top hospitals list
Editor's Note The US News & World Report on July 30 released its 2019-2020 Best Hospitals Honor Roll. The top five are: Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore Cleveland Clinic New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia and Cornell, New York City. In the specialty rankings: University of…
Study debunks ‘July Effect’ in cardiac surgery
Editor's Note The “July Effect”−the idea that more errors occur in July because of the influx of new interns and residents starting their in-hospital training−does not apply to cardiac surgery, this study finds. For more than 470,000 cardiac procedures analyzed (coronary bypass, aortic valve, mitral valve, thoracic aortic aneurysm), in-hospital…
You may also be interested in these sessions at the OR Manager Conference this September in Nashville, TN
They Do What? Unlocking the Mysteries of the OR to Help Preserve Skin Integrity
After this session you'll be able to: Recognize best practices for reducing postsurgical skin complications. Identify education to enhance knowledge of surgical positioning complications. Develop a new viewpoint of your role in preserving skin integrity beyond the OR. Why this is important: A little perspective goes a long way. The…
