Editor's Note Recent findings from the TRACTION study in which patients undergoing higher-risk non-cardiac surgery received tranexamic acid (TXA) or a placebo, demonstrated that patients who received TXA, a generic drug that promotes blood clotting, needed significantly fewer blood transfusions and saw no increase in potentially life-threatening blood clots after…

Read More

Editor's Note Among patients at increased risk for postoperative pulmonary complications undergoing intraoperative ventilation, using driving pressure–guided high positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) and recruitment maneuvers did not reduce postoperative pulmonary complications compared to using standard low PEEP without recruitment maneuvers for patients undergoing open abdominal surgery under general anesthesia. This…

Read More

Editor's Note Procedures involving pneumatic tourniquets can be associated with an increased the risk of complications and injuries such as postprocedural skin complications. A recent review of evidence-based practices for safety during surgery when using a pneumatic tourniquet published in the November issue of AORN Journal. This article provided an…

Read More

Editor's Note  Being able to identify a patient’s risk for a coronary event before surgery helps teams plan for potential complications like heart attack, heart failure, or arrhythmias, and ideally improve postoperative outcomes. New research published November 9 in JAMA demonstrated that coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) improved risk prediction…

Read More

Editor's Note Obesity is a key driver of earlier total hip arthroplasty (THA) and elevated perioperative risk, according to findings published October 29 in Surgeries. While THA is a well-known intervention for older adults with end-stage hip osteoarthritis, the researchers reported a link between an increase in obesity and the…

Read More

Editor's Note The incidence of surgical patients being discharged against medical advice is increasing, leading to a subsequent rise in postoperative complications and readmissions, according to new published research. The investigators evaluated trends, risk factors, and postoperative outcomes among surgical patients who were discharged against medical advice and their findings…

Read More

Editor's Note Surgical care can be influenced if a patient has high blood pressure, including for preoperative assessment, intraoperative monitoring and to prevent postoperative complications such as heart and kidney injury, stroke, and death. An overview of updated blood pressure guidance updates to the 2017 Blood Pressure Guidelines released by…

Read More

Editor's Note Remote perioperative monitoring (RPM) accelerates recovery and reduces complications following major cancer surgery, according to a randomized trial published on August 28 by npj Digital Medicine and co-authored by researchers at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. The study enrolled 293 patients undergoing major abdominal or…

Read More

Editor's Note Many widely used supplements and herbal remedies can increase bleeding risk during surgery and should be stopped in advance, according to researchers at Wrocław Medical University. The findings highlight a gap in perioperative safety practices, The Am-Pol Eagle September 18 reports. The study, led by the university’s Department…

Read More

Editor's Note Patients with BMI 40 or higher had similar 24-hour and 1–90 day complication rates to lower-BMI patients after primary total joint arthroplasty (TJA) performed at an academic ambulatory surgery center (ASC), an August 25 article from The Journal of Arthroplasty reports. The study retrospectively analyzed 2,367 primary THA…

Read More