FDA: ICU Medical recalls Lactated Ringerโs Injection, 0.9% Sodium Chloride Injection
Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration on October 30 announced the nationwide recall by ICU Medical (San Clemente, California) of one lot of Lactated Ringerโs Injection, USP, and one lot of 0.9% Sodium Chloride Injection because of the presence of particulate matter. The affected lot numbers are: Lactated Ringerโs…
Postop opioid prescribing, use drop after state imposed regulations
Editor's Note A state-mandated policy restricting opioid prescriptions in Vermont greatly reduced opioid prescribing and use by surgical patients at the University of Vermont Medical Center without affecting patient satisfaction with their postoperative pain management, finds this study presented October 29 at the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress 2019…
Joint Commission: Deadline approaching for submission of CY 2019 eCQM data
Editor's Note The Joint Commission on October 29 announced that the deadline for onboarding to the Direct Data Submission (DDS) Platform for submission of CY 2019 electronic clinical quality measures (eCQMs) is December 20. Organizations that submitted CY 2018 eCQMs through the DDS Platform do not need to be onboarded…
12-hour call shifts improve patient outcomes, lower costs
Editor's Note An acute-care surgery model that caps surgeon call shifts at 12 hours instead of 24 hours for covering surgical emergencies has led to shorter hospital stays, lower infection rates, and lower overall costs for patients with acute appendicitis, finds this study presented October 30 at the American College…
Joint Commission issues Quick Safety on new maternal hemorrhage standard
Editor's Note The Joint Commission on October 29 announced a new โQuick Safety 51: Proactive prevention of maternal death from maternal hemorrhage,โ which provides background information on strategies outlined in a new maternal hemorrhage standard. The new Provision of Care, Treatment, and Services (PC) standard, "PC.06.01.01: Reduce the likelihood of…
AI outperforms cliniciansโ judgment in triaging postop patients to ICU
Editor's Note Artificial intelligence (AI) in the form of a machine-learned algorithm correctly triaged the vast majority of postoperative patients to the ICU, in this pilot study presented October 29 at the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress 2019 in San Francisco. The algorithm included 87 clinical variables and 15…
FDA: Class I recall of Ethicon Echelon Flex Endopath staplers
Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration on October 30 identified the recall by Ethicon of its Echelon Flex Endopath staplers as Class I, the most serious. The recall was initiated because of failure of the staplers to completely form staples.ย As of October 3, 2019, seven serious injuries and one…
Association of disposable OR jackets with SSIs
Editor's Note The use of long-sleeved disposable OR jackets as recommended by AORN is not associated with reductions in surgical site infections (SSIs) and presents a fiscal burden, this study finds. In this analysis of 60,009 patients in 12 hospitals in a large multicenter health organization during a 55 month…
FDA of device shortages because of sterilization facility closures
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on October 25 released a statement warning of possible device shortages because of interruptions in ethylene oxide (EO) sterilization services due to facility closures in Illinois and Georgia. In the statement, the acting FDA Commissioner, Ned Sharpless, noted that โat this time…
Can machine learning predict 6-month mortality in cancer patients?
Editor's Note In this study, machine learning algorithms accurately identified cancer patients who were at risk of 6-month mortality. Of 26,525 cancer patients analyzed, machine learning models based on structured electronic health record data accurately predicted short-term mortality risk with good discrimination and positive predictive value. When the gradient boosting…