Editor's Note Colorectal tumors once considered inoperable are now routinely treated with curative surgery, thanks to advances in multimodality therapy and complex resection techniques, Mayo Clinic September 16 reports. Decades ago, cancers invading the sacrum, pelvic organs, or major blood vessels were often deemed unresectable, leaving patients with only palliative…

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Editor's Note Older age alone should not exclude patients from ambulatory general surgery. A retrospective study published in Cureus on August 27 found that patients over 75 undergoing short-stay general surgical procedures experienced complication and reintervention rates comparable to younger peers, despite higher comorbidity and anesthetic risk scores. The analysis…

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Editor's Note Artificial disc replacement (ADR) no longer requires a hospital stay. In one of the largest analyses to date, a California surgical team reviewed 1,043 outpatient ADR cases over 6 years and found zero immediate hospital transfers, zero transfusions, and every patient discharged home in under 24 hours, LA…

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Editor's Note A malpractice case involving a 69-year-old man undergoing an endoscopy at an ambulatory surgery center (ASC) spotlights the risks of managing high-comorbidity patients outside a hospital setting. According to a May 13 report in Anesthesiology News, the patient experienced a hypoxic event that led to permanent brain injury…

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Editor's Note Laser cataract surgery is entering a new era where robotic systems and artificial intelligence (AI) work alongside surgeons to improve accuracy, efficiency, and patient outcomes. According to the July/August 2025 edition of Ophthalmology Times, recent advances in robotic integration, astigmatism management, and AI-driven imaging are minimizing variability, reducing…

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Editor's Note Healthcare providers, payers, and analytics teams face sweeping ICD-10 changes this fall, with the 2026 code updates taking effect October 1, 2025, Wolters Kluwer July 14 reports. The release includes 614 new codes, 12 invalidations, 642 billability changes, 88 terminology revisions, and the creation of an entirely new…

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Editor's Note Consumer wearables can help detect surgical complications in children days before formal diagnosis, according to a July 9 article from the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern Medicine. The article focuses on a study published in Science Advances and led by researchers at Northwestern University, Shirley Ryan AbilityLab,…

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Editor's Note Hospitals achieved a substantial reduction in mortality risk for surgical inpatients between 2019 and 2024, even as patients grew sicker and stayed longer, according to a report released August 5 by the American Hospital Association (AHA) and Vizient. In the first quarter of 2024, hospitalized surgical patients were…

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Editor's Note As part of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) newly issued 2026 Final Rule, the Transforming Episode Accountability Model (TEAM) will hold hospitals and health systems accountable for the entire episode of care for major surgeries, from admission through 30 days post-discharge. HIT Consultant reported the…

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Editor’s Note: This page is a companion piece to the main article, Emergency preparedness: Identifying essential supplies for unplanned surgical events. While the main article outlines the principles of emergency readiness and supply preparation in the OR, the posts below offer a closer look at two key implementation areas: Supply…

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