Editor's Note After implementing two presurgery checklists from the American College of Surgeons Strong for Surgery (S4S) program, most diabetic patients met blood sugar control recommendations, and many patients quit smoking before surgery. Use of the checklists along with an Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) approach resulted in decreased length…

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Editor's Note In high-risk hip fracture patients, an Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) program lowers mortality rates, reduces hospital stays, and results in fewer complications, finds this study presented July 23 at the American College of Surgeons 2018 Quality and Safety Conference in Orlando, Florida. Results showed that ERAS: cut…

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Editor's Note In adults more than 70 years of age, exposure to general anesthesia and surgery was associated with a subtle decline in memory and thinking skills in this study. Of 1,819 patients in the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging, exposure to anesthesia after age 70 was linked to long-term…

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Editor's Note In this study of 34,186 surgical patients in the University of Michigan Health System, 23.1% were taking opioids preoperatively, and the use of opioids was associated with a more negative medical and pain profile. Patient age, tobacco use, illicit drug use, higher pain severity, depression, higher Fibromyalgia Survey…

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Editor's Note Female general surgery residents work more, experience aspects of burnout more frequently, and have poorer psychological well-being, this study finds. Of  7,395 residents surveyed (response rate, 99%), females reported: more frequently staying in the hospital >28 hours or working >80 hours per week more frequently feeling fatigued and…

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Editor's Note Patients with diabetes are more likely to have adverse outcomes after surgery, and greater risks are associated with increasing HbA1c levels, this study finds. Of 7,565 patients analyzed, 30% had diabetes and 37% had prediabetes. After adjustments, diabetes was linked to increased: 6-month mortality (9% in patients with…

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Editor's Note Malnourished hospitalized surgical and medical patients who participated in a nutrition quality improvement (QI) program had improved readmission rates and length of stay (LOS), but surgical patients had a significantly greater reduction in readmissions than medical patients, in this study. Of 1,269 patients analyzed, 288 were surgical patients…

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Editor's Note In this study, perioperative red blood cell (RBC) transfusions were significantly associated with development of new or progressive postoperative venous thromboembolism (VTE) within 30 days of a surgical procedure. Of 750,937 patients included in the analysis, 47,410 (6.3%) received at lest one perioperative RBC transfusion. Of these, 6,309…

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Editor's Note In this study, researchers at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles applied machine learning to arterial pressure waveforms to develop an algorithm that predicted intraoperative hypotension 15 minutes before it occurred in 84% of cases. Two sets of data were used to build the algorithm. One set consisted…

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Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on June 5 updated its Safety Communication: “Recommendations to Reduce Surgical Fires and Related Patient Injury.” Among the recommendations: Perform a fire risk assessment before each surgical procedure. Encourage communication among anesthesia personnel, surgeons, and OR staff. Practice safe use and administration…

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