Editor's Note The prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders in surgeons and interventionalists is high, this meta-analysis finds. Of 5,828 physicians, there was: degenerative cervical spine disease in 17% rotator cuff pathology in 18% degenerative lumbar spine disease in 19% carpal tunnel syndrome in 9%. From 1997 to 2015, the prevalence…
Editor's Note Perioperative myocardial injury (PMI) is a common complication after noncardiac surgery (occurring in 1 of 7 patients), and it is associated with substantial short- and long-term mortality (9% and 22%), this study finds. This analysis included 2,018 patients having 2,546 surgical procedures. PMI occurred after 397 of the…
Editor's Note Children under age 5 having minor surgery with anesthesia have a small but statistically significant increased risk of a mental disorder, developmental delays, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), this study finds. A total of 38,493 children with a single exposure to anesthesia before age 5 and 192,465…
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on November 30 announced a final rule that cancels the mandatory hip fracture and cardiac bundled-payment models, which were to begin on January 1, 2018, and implements changes to the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) Model. In the final…
Editor's Note This analysis of 10 surgical procedures accrued into the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) between 2008 and 2015, identified which procedures improved the most from QI efforts and which needed more. Hepatectomy demonstrated the greatest improvement across the greatest number of outcomes…
Editor's Note Overlapping surgery can be safely performed without risking patient safety, this study from Emory University Hospital finds. Of 2,275 neurosurgical cases included in the analysis, 1,303 were overlapping and 972 were nonoverlapping. The researchers found no difference between overlapping and nonoverlapping neurosurgical procedures in terms of 90-day postoperative…
Editor's Note High-risk, noncancerous flat epithelial atypia (FEA) breast lesions can be treated with close observation rather than surgical removal in most cases, this study finds. The analysis of 208 patients diagnosed with FEA over a 9-year period found that after mammography, biopsy, and surgical excision, five lesions (2.4%) were…
Editor's Note A patient’s waist measurement can predict the risk of complications and death after emergency general surgery, finds this study presented October 26 at the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress 2017 in San Diego. Included in the study were 608 emergency general surgery patients who had preoperative CT…
Editor's Note Twice as many patients with appendicitis are being treated without surgery compared to 20 years ago; however, nonoperative management is associated with a higher death rate, finds this study presented October 26 at the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress 2017 in San Diego. A total of 477,680…
Editor's Note Surgeon’s cloth skull caps that expose small amounts of the ears and hair are not inferior to bouffant disposable hats that cover those features, finds this study presented October 25 at the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress 2017 in San Diego and published online October 26 in…