Editor's Note New evidence from skulls in a university collection reveals that brain surgery dates back millennia—potentially as far back as 4,o00 years ago. CNN reported the news May 29. Researchers expressed uncertainty in some cases whether marks on the skulls indicated surgery to treat a living person or an…

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Editor's Note A comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis, published by JAMA Network on May 24 and encompassing 81 studies and over 24.9 million patients, shed light on the signs and symptoms associated with early-onset colorectal cancer (EOCRC) and highlighted significant delays in diagnosis. The analysis identified the most common presenting…

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Editor's Note Florida became the first US state to permit doctors to perform cesarean sections (C-sections) outside hospitals, siding with a private equity-owned physicians group advocating for cost reduction and a homier birthing environment, KFF Health News and HealthLeaders May 28 reports. However, the hospital industry and the American College…

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Editor's Note A recent analysis from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) of over 19 million hospital discharges in the US showed a significant decline in the quality of nonsurgical care for non-COVID-19 patients during the 2020 COVID-19 surges, Healthcare Purchasing News May 28 reports. Specifically, the study…

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Editor's Note Liver resection provides a significant survival benefit over percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (PRFA) or transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) in patients with early multinodular hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), according to findings published May 15 in JAMA Surgery. Thus, liver resection should be considered the first therapeutic option in patients with early multinodular…

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Editor's Note A study published May 7 in JAMA Open found no significant risk of periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) when colonoscopy is performed within one year of total joint arthroplasty (TJA), whether the colonoscopy was done before or after the surgery. However, certain comorbidities such as kidney and pulmonary disease,…

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Editor's Note Although robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery (RLS) and conventional laparoscopic surgery (CLS) offer similar survival outcomes for sigmoid colon cancer, RLS harvests comparatively more lymph nodes, according to a study published May 10 in the Journal of Robotic Surgery. According to a May 15 report on the study in The…

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Takeaways Although women comprise half the population, they were left out of medical research on major causes of death for both women and men—cancer, heart disease, and stroke—until 1990. Using surgical tools designed by men, for men can impact every aspect of a woman surgeon’s work, from learning new procedures…

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Editor's Note Although artificial intelligence (AI) applications in surgery “remain relatively nascent,” the technology has potential to significantly impact all phases of surgical care, according to a review article published May 13 in Nature Medicine. “The emergence of foundation model architectures, wearable technologies, and improving surgical data infrastructures is enabling…

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Editor's Note Contrary to previous findings, less-invasive percutaneous intervention combining fractional flow reserve (FFR)-guided percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) could be a viable alternative to surgery for patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS) and concomitant obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD). That’s according to the results…

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