Editor's Note This study led by researchers at Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, finds that underrepresentation of minorities persists across all surgical specialties, while representation of females improves. The cross-sectional study examined race, ethnicity and attrition data of 112,205 surgical residents across 18 years (2001-2018) in 10 surgical specialties.…

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Editor's Note This study led by researchers at Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, Illinois, and Edward Hines Jr Veterans Administration Hospital, Hines, Illinois, finds that core general surgery cases performed by senior-level residents can be done safely without the attending surgeons scrubbed in. Of 109,707 patients analyzed, 11,181 had procedures…

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Editor's note Researchers at Australia-based RMIT University have developed a new antimicrobial suture material that can reduce infections and simplify postoperative monitoring. Laboratory testing on the surgical suture finds it is easily visible in CT scans and that it has strong antimicrobial properties, killing 99% of highly drug-resistant bacteria after…

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Editor's Note This study led by researchers from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, finds that characteristics of patients’ neighborhoods and hospitals where they received treatment were both associated with postoperative mortality. This analysis included 1,898,829 Medicare beneficiaries from all neighborhood types undergoing one of five common surgical procedures in…

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Editor's Note This study from Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, finds no difference in quality of shared decision making in surgical patients having preoperative in-person vs telemedicine visits. Of 387 patients who were scheduled for surgery between May 2021 and June 2022, 301 had in-person visits and 86 had…

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Editor's Note This study led by researchers at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York City, finds that race, ethnicity, and area-level social determinants of health (SDOH) were associated with delayed or discontinued cancer treatments and longer delays to restart drug-based therapies after COVID-19 infections. The analysis included data on…

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Editor's Note Medical schools saw more diversity among their students in 2022, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), reports January 12 HealthLeaders Media. Comparing the 2020-2021 and 2022-2023 academic years, the number of Black, Hispanic, and female students increased. AAMC released the breakdown of this data: The…

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Editor's Note This study by researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, finds that patients participating in an Enhanced Recovery after Surgery (ERAS) program were prescribed significantly fewer opioids at discharge, compared to patients before ERAS was instituted. A total of 3,983 patients were included (1,929 pre-ERAS and 2,054 post-ERAS).…

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Editor's Note This study from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, finds that the introduction and removal of Michigan’s executive order curtailing elective surgery during COVID-19 lagged behind the ramp-down and ramp-up of elective surgery volume. Hospitals had already achieved a 91.7% reduction in case volume before the executive order…

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Editor's Note This study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill finds that scrub color is a valuable identification tool, and it is associated with patients’ perceptions of surgeons. An electronic survey was administered to patients and visitors at the University of North Carolina Medical Center in Chapel…

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