Standardized ambulatory surgery protocol reduces postop pain, ED visits
Editor's Note Standardizing clinical processes for outpatient hernia repairs reduced postoperative pain and unplanned returns to the emergency department (ED), finds this study presented October 23 at the American College of Surgeons 2017 Clinical Congress in San Diego. Researchers developed a standardized eight-step protocol that incorporated best practices and enhanced…
Joint Commission: New Sentinel Event Alert video on RSIs
Editor's Note The Joint Commission on October 25 announced a new Sentinel Event Alert video on Preventing Unintended Retained Foreign Objects, also known as retained surgical items (RSIs). The new video with Erin Lawler, a human factors engineer from the Joint Commission, explains how to maximize safety in the OR…
Bariatric surgery patients at risk for new prolonged opioid use
Editor's Note Bariatric surgery patients have a much higher rate of newly persistent postoperative opioid use than general surgery patients, finds this study presented October 23 at the American College of Surgeons 2017 Clinical Congress in San Diego. Of 14,063 bariatric surgery patients in the Michigan Bariatric Surgery Collaborative who…
Opioid-free general anesthesia reduces postop nausea
Editor's Note Eliminating opioids from general anesthesia is safe and effective and significantly decreases postoperative nausea, finds this study presented October 23 at the Anesthesiology 2017 annual meeting in Boston. Of 1,009 patients who received general anesthesia without opioids, only 11% experienced postoperative nausea--typically 50% to 80% of patients have…
FDA: SCA pharmaceuticals recalls certain lots of injectable products
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on October 21 announced the recall by SCA Pharmaceuticals (Little Rock, Arkansas) of various lots of injectable products. The recall was initiated because of the potential for the products to contain microbial contamination. Many of the recalled products are used in anesthesia,…
Patients overestimate postop pain they will experience
Editor's Note Patients significantly overestimate the amount of pain they will experience after surgery, which can cause unnecessary anxiety, finds a study presented October 21 at the Anesthesiology 2017 annual meeting in Boston. A total of 223 patients completed a questionnaire before and after surgery to evaluate the level of…
Preop antibiotics significantly lower SSI risk in left colorectal surgery
Editor's Note Adding oral antibiotics to mechanical bowel preparation for left colorectal cancer surgery significantly lowered the rate of surgical site infections (SSIs), but the effect was marginal in right-colon resections, this study finds. For 89 patients having left colorectal resections, the rate of SSIs was 27% with mechanical bowel…
FDA updates Safety Alert for St Jude defibrillators
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on October 19 issued an updated Safety Alert for implantable cardioverter defibrillators and cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators by St Jude Medical. Because batteries for the devices may fail earlier than expected, St Jude has made available a new battery performance management tool,…
Penicillin allergy linked to SSI risk
Editor's Note In this study from the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, patients with penicillin allergies had a 50% increased odds of developing surgical site infections (SSIs), which the researchers attributed to the second-line antibiotics administered to them. A total of 8,385 patients who had surgery between 2010 and 2014…
ACS NSQIP recognizes 66 hospitals for meritorious outcomes
Editor's Note The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) on October 18 recognized 66 of 680 hospitals participating in the adult program for achieving meritorious outcomes for surgical patient care in 2016. ACS NSQIP hospitals are required to track outcomes for inpatient and outpatient…