Editor's Note The COVID-19 hospital admission rate in the US rose some 16% to more than 17,400 for the week ending August 26, and deaths increased by nearly 18% from the prior week, the September 7 New York Times reports. This marks the seventh consecutive week of increases. The Omicron…

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Editor's Note This multi-center study, led by the University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, examines the effect of in-house call on sleep patterns and burnout among acute care surgeons. Physiological and survey data of 224 acute care surgeons on in-house call were collected over a 6-month period and included in the…

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Editor's Note For Pain Awareness Month, the American College of Surgeons (ACS), on September 6, shared three tips for managing pain after surgery. Jonah J. Stulberg, MD, PhD, MPH, FACS, a member of the ACS Patient Education Committee and vice chair of research for the department of surgery at UT…

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Editor's Note This study from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, finds that Medicare patients having common surgical procedures in health professional shortage area hospitals obtain safe care without evidence of higher expenditures. A total of 842,787 Medicare patients undergoing appendectomy, cholecystectomy, colectomy, or hernia repair between 2014 and 2018…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), on August 31, identified the recall by Getinge/Maquet/Datasocpe of its Cardiosave Hybrid and Rescue Intra-aortic Balloon Pumps (IABPs) as Class I, the most serious. The FDA posted four recalls for four separate reasons: Because they may overheat when the device’s internal temperature…

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Editor's Note This study by researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, examines preoperative risk factors, operative variables, and postoperative complications associated with 30-day mortality after outpatient surgery. A total of 2,822,789 patients in the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database were included…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), on August 30, identified the recall by Hamilton Medical of its HAMILTON-C1, C2, C3, and T1 ventilators as Class I, the most serious. The recall was initiated because of software issues that may cause the ventilators to stop without notice. There have…

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Editor's Note This Canadian study examines whether surgeon gender is associated with long-term postoperative patient outcomes. A total of 1,165,711 patients (151,054 treated by female surgeons and 1,014,657 treated by male surgeons) were included in the analysis. Multivariate adjusted rates of adverse postoperative events (ie, death, readmission, or complication) showed…

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Editor's Note An update of the 2014 “Strategies to Prevent Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections [CAUTIs] in Acute-Care Hospitals” was published August 25 by the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA). The update, which is a collaborative effort led by SHEA, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the Association for…

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Editor's Note This study from the Minneapolis VA Healthcare System finds that intraoperative stress in surgical teams is common and has multiple sources, including adverse events. Researchers conducted 28 interviews with surgical team members on intraoperative stress and emotional and behavioral responses to stressors. The researchers then identified themes in…

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