Editor's Note In cardiac surgery patients at moderate-to-high risk for death, a restrictive strategy for red blood cell (RBC) transfusion was equivalent to a liberal strategy, with respect to death from any cause, myocardial infarction, stroke, or renal failure, at 6-months follow-up, this study finds. There also were no significant…

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Editor's Note The Women’s Choice Award announced on October 1 the Best Children’s Hospitals for 2019. The select group were chosen from nearly 60 Children’s Hospitals in the nation and represent those that have met the highest standards for childcare. Award winners include: Children’s Hospital & Medical Center, Omaha Connecticut…

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Editor's Note Major clinical comorbidities increased substantially in patients after elective arthroscopic hip surgery in this study by Duke researchers. These comorbidities have been overlooked in the past by major studies evaluating the procedure’s benefits and risks, the researchers say. In this analysis of 1,870 patients (mean age 32) in…

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Editor's Note The ECRI Institute on October 1 released its 2019 Top 10 Health Technology Hazards. Among the hazards: First is cybersecurity attacks Second is blood and body fluids on mattresses after cleaning Third is retained sponges Fifth is mishandling flexible endoscopes after disinfection Ninth is cleaning fluid seeping into…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on September 27 announced the recall by Oscor Inc (Palm Harbor, Florida) of its TB-Temporary Bipolar Pacing Leads, with 2 mm unshrouded connectors. The recall was initiated because the connector cap housing may slide and expose the connection wire. This may cause…

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Editor's Note A significant decrease in bacterial bioburden on the instrument table was found when the table was covered during static periods of nonuse and dynamic periods of active OR use in this study. Bacterial contamination of the instrument table was evaluated by settle plates in static and dynamic ORs,…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on September 26 released its sentinel event statistics for the first half of 2018. Of the top 10 most frequently reported events, falls were first at 65 events, unintended retention of a foreign body was second at 61 events, wrong-site surgery was fourth at 45…

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Editor's Note The Affordable Care Act’s (ACA’s) Medicaid expansion had no effect on the utilization rates of regionalized surgery at high-volume hospitals (HVHs) overall or on disparities in vulnerable populations, this study finds. In this analysis of 166,558 adults at 468 hospitals who had one of four surgical procedures in…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on September 30 posted an announcement by Getinge that it is voluntarily initiating a worldwide recall involving a field correction of some 5,223 Maquet/Getinge Cardiosave Intra-Aortic Balloon Pumps (IABP) sold by Datascope Corp. The recall is because of the potential for interruption…

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Editor's Note Appropriate nursing staff mix is important for quality care,  and understanding how staffing skill mix affects outcomes allows policymakers and clinicians to make good staffing decisions, finds this study. Researchers from the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario analyzed 626 studies on the effectiveness of RNs on clinical, patient,…

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