Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on November 8 published its final rule on the requirements for reporting adverse events by medical device companies, the November 14 Medical Design & Outsourcing reports. The final rule walks back much of the burden for contract manufacturers that was in the…

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Editor's Note Intraoperative adverse events are independently associated with substantial increases in 30-day postoperative mortality, morbidity, and prolonged length of stay in abdominal surgery patients, this study finds. Postoperative complications associated with intraoperative adverse events included deep/organ-space surgical site infections, sepsis, pneumonia, and failure to wean from ventilator. Of 9,288…

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Editor's Note This study finds that general surgery residents strongly prefer work hour policies that allow them the flexibility to work longer hours when needed to provide patient care over the standard, more restrictive work schedules required by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. The preference for flexibility becomes…

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Editor's Note Pretreating red blood cells (RBCs) with nitric oxide may reduce the risk of pulmonary hypertension, a dangerous side effect of transfusions, finds this study. The Food and Drug Administration allows transfusion of RBCs that have been stored for 42 days. However, recent studies suggest that transfusion of RBCs…

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Editor's Note A global outbreak of Mycobacterium chimaera has been linked to heater-cooler devices used in cardiac surgery, this study finds. Investigators found M chimaera in heater-cooler device water circuits and air samples while the devices were running, suggesting airborne transmission from the device to the surgical site. New heater-cooler…

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Editor's Note Total hip outcomes such as pain, function, range of motion, and strength are different for men and women, which could lead to gender-specific rehabilitation programs, finds this study presented November 9 at the 2016 ACR/ARHP [American College of Rheumatology/Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals] Annual Meeting. Researchers from the…

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Editor's Note Though the use of 3D printing is not new in radiology, its adoption has increased as the technology has matured, the November 9 Health Data Management reports. The value of the printer is the ability to create a model of a body part before a surgical procedure−to hold…

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Comprehensive surgical patient care models are associated with better outcomes, according to studies presented at Anesthesiology 2016 in October. In a study of 1,356 patients undergoing total knee, hip, or shoulder joint replacement surgery, pain management and communication between patients and physicians improved when care was based on the perioperative…

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Ambulatory surgery center (ASC) quality scores became public for the first time in 2016. ASCs and regulators including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) say they are pleased to have documentation of their track records. But what do the scores really mean, and how useful, exactly, are they…

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Editor's Note This study from the UK is the first to link antibiotic resistance with exposure to the disinfectant chlorhexidine. In five of six strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae exposed to chlorhexidine-containing disinfectants in the laboratory, adaptation to chlorhexidine led to resistance to the last resort antibiotic colistin. The risk of…

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