Study compares renoprotective effects of metabolic bariatric surgery, GLP-1RA
Editor's Note For diabetic patients with obesity and chronic kidney disease (CKD), metabolic bariatric surgery could protect the kidneys better than therapy with glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RA), according to research published in the September issue of the Annals of Surgery. Conducted at a large US health system, the study…
COVID deemed endemic, death rate drops
Editor's Note COVID-19 can be considered endemic worldwide, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on the heels of reporting a drop in overall US death rates from the disease. CDCโs classification of the disease as endemic โmeans, essentially, that COVID is here to stay in predictable ways,โ…
Harris, Trump healthcare records compared
Editor's Note The Affordable Care Act , abortion and contraception, LBGTQ health, prescription drug pricesโpresidential candidates Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, and Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, have vastly different positions these and other healthcare issues. KFF Health News has published a detailed comparison in the form of a side-by-side…
Study reveals how OR ventilation, patient positioning impact surgical site infection risk
Editor's Note Optimizing patient positioning can help reduce the risk of surgical site infections due to airborne contaminants in positive-pressure ORs, according to a study published August 12 in Nature: Scientific Reports. Maintaining higher pressure than adjacent spaces prevents entry of contaminants from environments external to the OR. For this…
Anesthesiologists sound alarm on wildfire smoke, surgical outcomes
Editor's Note The rising frequency of wildfires has anesthesiologists concerned about potential for adverse surgical outcomes to exposed patients, according to an article in the Online First edition of Anesthesiology, ย the peer-reviewed journal of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA). As of an August 6 report from ASA, nearly 100…
Extreme heat, cyberattacks impact blood supply
Editor's Note The Red Cross is reporting a 25-percent drop in its national blood inventory due to hot weather a month after the American Hospital Association (AHA) warned about the impact of cyberattacks on critical supplies at hospitals. According to an August 6 report in The Hill, heat-related challenges have…
Corporate influence concerns arise amid scrutiny of VP nomineeโs health record
Editor's Note As Governor of Minnesota, Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz backed off on nurse staffing ratios as well as healthcare affordability after Mayo Clinicโwhich is based in the stateโraised objections, Managed Healthcare Executive reported August 6. Citing earlier reports from Politico and the Star Tribune on various aspects of…
Congress pressed to protect healthcare workers against violence
Editor's Note Advocates of legislation to make physically assaulting healthcare workers a federal crime spoke out at a recent press conference hosted by the American Hospital Association (AHA) and the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), MedPage Today reported August 2. The Safety From Violence for Healthcare Employees Act (SAVE…
Study: Debriefing documentation improves OR communication
Editor's Note A study published August 6 in the journal Surgery highlights the impact of structured debriefing tools on improving communication and patient safety in the OR during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conducted over three years, the study implemented a new electronic health record (EHR) module to document surgical debriefings and…
Study: COVID infection negatively impacts surgical outcomes
Symptomatic SARS-COV-2 patients undergoing surgical procedures experience significantly higher 30-day in-hospital mortality, ICU admission, longer ICU and hospital stay, and pulmonary complications, according to a study published August 1 in the Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing. Researchers analyzed a yearโs worth of records of 102 infected surgical patients and those who…