Editor's Note Deep surgical site infection (SSI) rates in orthopedic surgical procedures may be a better tool for interhospital comparisons than overall SSI rates, this study finds. Researchers in Finland analyzed infection surveillance data for 73,227 total hip arthroplasties and 56,860 total knee arthroplasties performed in 18 hospitals from 1999…

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Editor's Note This study finds that video-based coaching is feasible for supplementing intraoperative teaching of residents to perform surgery. Teaching in a video-based coaching session was compared with teaching points made during a corresponding OR case. Teaching in video-based coaching sessions was more resident centered. Surgeons were more inquisitive about…

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Editor's Note In this French study, the majority of ICU patients had at least one organ failure at the time of death. Of 698 patients analyzed, 84% had one or more organ failures and 89% required at least one organ support at the time of death. Deaths were considered unexpected…

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Editor's Note Outpatient laparoscopic appendectomy is safe in a public safety net hospital and results in shorter length of stay and decreased healthcare costs, this study finds. A total of 351 patients were enrolled in the study: 173 outpatients and 178 inpatient controls. Of the 173 outpatients, 113 were discharged…

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Editor's Note A study of 14 South Carolina hospitals found the use of a 19-item surgical checklist developed by the World Health Organization resulted in a 22% decrease in postoperative mortality over 3 years, compared with hospitals not participating in the checklist program. In the 14 participating hospitals, mortality was…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced April 19 that it is seeking hospital success stories about electronic clinical quality measure (eCQM) capture and submission to share with other accredited hospitals via the new 2017 Pioneers in Quality: Proven Practices Collection. Hospitals whose submissions are selected also will be recognized as…

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Editor's Note Adverse event-free admissions provide a patient-centered indicator that aligns directly with patient safety, this study finds. Using Medicare data from 2009 to 2011, researchers found that 64% of 24 million admissions had no adverse events. Multiple events were recorded in 22.7%, and 15% of these had more than…

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Editor's Note The combination of femoral and sciatic nerve blocks is the overall best approach to pain management after total knee arthroplasty, finds this meta-analysis. The best five modalities for pain at rest were: femoral/obturator, femoral/sciatic/obturator, lumbar plexus/sciatic, femoral/sciatic, and fascia iliaca compartment blocks. For reducing opioid consumption, the best…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced on April 12 that Genesys Regional Medical Center, Grand Blanc, Michigan, and Home IV Care, Inc, Madison Heights, Michigan, are the first organizations to receive its new Medication Compounding Certification. The certification is based on standards from the US Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) to help…

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Editor's Note New persistent postoperative opioid use is common and does not differ between minor and major procedures, but, instead, it is associated with behavioral and pain disorders, this study finds. Of 36,177 elective surgery patients assessed, about 6% filled opioid drug prescriptions between 90 and 180 days after the…

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