Editor's Note Machine learning (ML) models designed to predict patient mortality are falling short when it comes to identifying severe injuries that could lead to death, according to a March 27 report in TechTarget. The article focuses on research published in Nature Communications Medicine found that ML mortality prediction models…

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Editor's Note A systematic review found no strong evidence that compliance with the CMS Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock Management Bundle (SEP-1) reduces mortality, raising questions about its inclusion in hospital performance measures, according to a February 19 report from the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and…

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Editor's Note A March 4 study in JAMA Network Open underscores the persistence of the “weekend effect,” a surgical care phenomenon in which the risk of postoperative complications, readmissions and mortality rises immediately before the weekend. The research suggests variations in staffing, resource availability, and care coordination may contribute to…

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Editor’s Note Pregnancy complications—including life-threatening sepsis—surged in Texas after the state banned abortion in 2021, according to a ProPublica analysis of seven years’ worth of state hospital data. In a February 20 report, the outlet details how sepsis rates for women hospitalized after second-trimester pregnancy loss rose by more than…

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Editor's Note The first study to directly compare kidney-related adverse outcomes between perioperative use of gabapentin and pregabalin shows that the former drug carries a higher risk, Renal and Urology News reported January 21. Published in Frontiers in Medicine, the study involved a trial emulation of 1,280 propensity-matched surgical patients…

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Editor's Note Black patients are less likely to receive surgery at hospitals with the lowest mortality rates despite living closer to these facilities, according to a new study examining Medicare patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) from 2017 to 2019. Authors suggest that physician referral patterns may play a…

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Editor's Note Findings from The ARRC II study show using advanced recovery room care (ARRC) for medium-risk surgical patients significantly reduces 18-month postoperative mortality compared to standard ward care. As detailed in a December 11 research letter in JAMA Surgery, this benefit appears linked to minimizing early postoperative complications, which…

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Editor's Note Adverse events (AEs) remain widespread in perioperative care, affecting nearly one in three patients and resulting in substantial and often preventable patient harm, according to a retrospective cohort study published November 13 in The BMJ. The study analyzed 1,009 weighted admissions from a sample of 64,121 surgical patients…

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Editor's Note Research shows repeated fasting for multiple surgeries during a single hospital stay significantly raises the risk of protein-calorie malnutrition, leading to longer recovery times, increased healthcare costs, and a higher likelihood of death. HealthDay covered the news October 21. Presented at the American Society of Anesthesiologists annual meeting,…

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Editor's Note Beth Chrismer, MSN, RN, CPHRM, former director of clinical excellence at CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Health System, shared insights into a tragic workplace violence incident that occurred in 2013 at a Texas ambulatory surgery center (ASC) at last year’s OR Manager Conference. Chrismer was risk manager at the time…

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