Editor's Note Closely monitoring of brain activity with electroencephalography (EEG) and minimizing anesthesia in older patients during surgery had no significant effect on the occurrence of delirium after surgery, but it was linked to lower 30-day mortality, this study finds. In this analysis of 1,232 older surgical patients, researchers assigned…

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Editor's Note This study from a large academic medical center finds that the practice of overlapping surgery does not expose patients to increased risk of negative outcomes. Data on operative procedures from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2015 at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, were used to compare…

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Editor's Note In this study, postoperative delirium had a negative association with 30- and 90-day cognition in all participating patients. However, patients with preoperative cognitive impairment had an improvement in cognition at 30 and 90 days after surgery, but this increase was attenuated if the patient experienced postoperative delirium. This…

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Editor's Note ICU readmission risk for surgical patients can be predicted using a simple, clinical nomogram based on seven demographic and physiologic variables, this study finds. Of 3,109 patients admitted to the ICU by general surgery, transplant, trauma, and vascular surgery services, there were 141 (5%) unplanned readmissions within 72…

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Editor's Note Education of surgical interns on postoperative analgesia was effective in preparing them for judicious opioid prescribing, this study finds. An education session on postoperative analgesia prescribing was presented to 31 incoming surgical interns by surgical residents. Before the education session was started, few interns felt comfortable prescribing opioids…

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Editor's Note Implementation of AORN’s 2015 guidelines for OR attire, which also were adopted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, has not decreased surgical site infections (SSIs) and has increased healthcare costs, this study finds. For the study, data were collected on general, cardiac, neuro-, orthopaedic, and gynecologic…

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Editor's Note To reduce contamination of the surgeon in the OR, the two-person gowning technique must be highly monitored, or the single-person gowning technique should be used, finds this study from the department of orthopedic surgery and rehabilitation at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City. For the…

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Editor's Note In this study, an ultrarestrictive opioid prescribing strategy was associated with a reduction in the number of pills dispensed without changes in postoperative pain, complications, or increases in prescription refill requests. In this case-control 2-year analysis of 1,231 women having surgery for gynecologic cancer, those having ambulatory or…

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Each year, more than 2.5 million adults in the US develop pressure ulcers, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). These lesions bring pain, risk for serious infection, and increased healthcare utilization. Data on the costs of treatment vary, but some estimates range between $37,800 and $70,000…

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Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) led the list of newer patient care models in use at hospitals that employ respondents to the 2018 OR Manager Salary/Career Survey. A total of 42% of hospital-based OR leaders said ERAS had been or would soon be implemented in their facilities, down slightly from…

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