Editor's Note One-year mortality after contemporary laparoscopic bariatric surgery is low at <0.25%, which is much lower than previously reported, this study finds. Of 158,606 bariatric procedures analyzed between 2008 and 2012, the 30-day and 1-year mortality rates, respectively were: 0.13% and 0.23% for laparoscopic Roux-en-Y bypass (LRYGB) 0.06% and…

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Editor's Note Changes in gene expression in intestinal tissue of patients after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery explain and predict blood glucose improvement and body weight loss, finds this study presented March 18 at the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago. The findings are based on the first 19 patients;…

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Editor's Note An innovative use for a known drug, amisulpride, is showing promise as an effective treatment for preventing postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV), finds this study. Amisulpride works by blocking dopamine signaling in the body. A total of 1,147 patients undergoing general anesthesia, who had three or four PONV…

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Editor's Note Enhanced patient satisfaction scores were seen in patients who received supplemental web-based education before having outpatient orthopedic surgical procedures in this study presented March 7 at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting. A total of 177 patients were randomized to receive either routine education from the…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on March 14 announced that three revised requirements across the Life Safety (LS) and Environment of Care (EC) chapters went into effect March 11. The revisions are: LS.02.01.30, element of performance (EP) 13, is designed to maintain alignment with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid…

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Editor's Note In patients having noncardiac surgery who develop a perioperative acute myocardial infarction (AMI), about one in three died in-hospital or were readmitted within 30 days of discharge, finds this study presented March 10 at the 2018 American College of Cardiology Annual Scientific Session. Among more than 3 million…

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  Editor's Note The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is working with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement/National Patient Safety Foundation and sister Health and Human Services agencies to promote a wide variety of information and activities for Patient Safety Awareness Week March 11 to March 17. The annual…

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Editor's Note Reductions in hospital length of stay (LOS) for surgical procedures between 2008 and 2014, were not linked to a greater use of postacute care facilities in this study. Researchers studied the relationship between decreased LOS and postacute care using summary measures from the US National Inpatient Sample with…

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Editor's Note Energy and Commerce Committee leaders on March 9 sent letters to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and four hospital accrediting organizations to provide information about the hospital survey process and CMS oversight of the organizations by March 23. The letters were sent after questions were…

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Editor's Note Great strides in burn care over the past 30 years have dramatically increased burn patients’ chances of survival by 2% per year, this study finds. Between 1989 and 2017, there were 10,384 burn admissions with 355 mortalities. Researchers looked at the main factors that influenced risk of death…

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