Editor's Note A Phase III clinical trial comparing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) with traditional open-heart surgery found no significant differences in key health outcomes 7 years after treatment, Cedars-Sinai October 27 reports. The international PARTNER 3 trial, led by Raj Makkar, MD, and published in The New England Journal…

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Editor's Note Artificial intelligence (AI) and evidence-based fasting practices could significantly enhance safety and comfort for children undergoing surgery, according to research presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY® 2025 annual meeting that took place on October 10–14. One study found AI systems outperform standard methods in key pediatric anesthesia tasks, including selecting…

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Editor's Note Hospitals adopting perioperative patient ambassadors are seeing major gains in surgical communication, patient trust, and satisfaction, AORN August 18 reports. An EIN Presswire release on September 30 also highlights AORN’s call for hospitals to formalize the patient ambassador role as part of the surgical team. AORN notes that…

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Editor's Note Older adults with a body mass index (BMI) in the overweight range had significantly lower odds of death after major elective surgery compared with those in the normal BMI category, an August 26 study published by JAMA Network reports. The cohort study followed 414 adults aged 65 years…

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Editor's Note The Perioperative Nutrition Screen (PONS) identifies patients at greater risk of complications following pancreatic cancer surgery, according to a retrospective analysis published August 27 by Research Square. The study found that patients flagged for nutrition risk by PONS experienced longer hospital stays, higher complication rates, and were more…

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Editor's Note Surgery and advanced implantable devices can give patients with drug-resistant epilepsy a far greater chance of seizure freedom than medication alone, UCSF News September 25 reports. While about 30 anti-seizure medications exist, one-third of patients do not achieve seizure control, and fewer than one in five seek care…

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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…

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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…

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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 Hospitalized surgical patients in 2024 were nearly 20% more likely to survive than expected compared to 2019, according to an August 5 analysis from the American Hospital Association (AHA) and Vizient. The report credits safety improvements such as reductions in infections, falls, and major complications, even as surgical…

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