A new tool that assesses postoperative surgical site infection (SSI) risk in spine patients shows promise for improved patient care. Research on the tool, developed by a nurse, is still ongoing, but early results suggest the tool could help clinicians develop strategies to prevent many SSIs. Postoperative SSI rates for…

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Editor's Note The National Institutes of Health (NIH) on April 18 announced an initiative to support research to better understand and address disparities in surgical care and outcomes for disadvantaged populations. The new program will involve collaboration among several NIH institutes and centers along with the Agency for Healthcare Research…

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Editor's Note The American College of Surgeons on April 12 released an update of its Statements on Principles, which includes its position on the practice of concurrent surgeries performed by a primary attending surgeon. The statement notes that in general, the primary attending surgeon should be in the operating suite…

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Editor's Note Weight loss and obesity-related comorbidity outcomes at 1 year after surgery are unrelated to surgeon skill, this study finds. Comparing patients who were operated on by surgeons in the top 25% for surgical skill scores and surgeons in the bottom 25%, there were no major differences in the…

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Editor's Note A new analysis by Avalere Health (Washington, DC) finds that 60% of hospitals participating in Medicare’s Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement bundled-payment model could face penalties if they don’t reduce their costs. The average total joint costs around $13,000, but the entire episode-of-care costs twice that at $26,000.…

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Editor's Note Patients undergoing minimally invasive mitral valve repair or replacement (mini-MVR) have similar outcomes as patients having traditional open procedures and also experience shorter hospital stays and fewer blood transfusions, finds this study. The study included 1,304 patients, including 425 mini-MVRs. Compared with traditional MVR, Mini-MVR patients had similar…

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Editor's Note Physicians are beginning to dread what some are calling “EHR pajama time”--the 1 to 2 hours they now have to spend at home finishing up their electronic health record (EHR) documentation after their kids have gone to bed, notes the ACS Surgery News, reporting on a session at the…

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Editor's Note Use of an Enhanced Recovery after Surgery (ERAS) program in total hip and total knee patients reduced length of stay by 1 day in this study. Short term complications and readmission rates were similar for patients in the ERAS program and those managed in a traditional perioperative care…

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Editor's Note Surgeons at the University of Pennsylvania and Johns Hopkins University hospitals will transplant kidneys from donors with hepatitis C virus (HCV) as part of a clinical trial this spring, STAT news reports. The recipients will be given a 12-week course of antiviral therapy after the transplant in hopes…

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Editor's Note In this study of surgical residents after implementation of the 80-hour workweek in 2003, researchers found a significant increase in operative variability, including an increase in the variability of total major cases between the resident completing the most and fewest cases per class. This may suggest a growing disparity…

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