Editor's Note In this study, researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, find that ambulatory surgery offers significant cost savings and generally superior 30-day outcomes compared to inpatient surgery. Of 73,724 patients having hernia repair, primary total or partial thyroidectomy, laparoscopic cholecystectomy, or laparoscopic appendectomy in…

Read More

Editor's Note This study from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, and the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, estimates the national revenue loss because of cessation of major elective surgeries during COVID-19 to be $22.3 billion. Sensitivity analysis finds that the recovery time to market equilibrium once elective surgeries fully resume is…

Read More

Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration (FDA), on April 9, identified the recall of Medtronic’s Valiant Navion Thoracic Stent Graft System as Class I, the most serious. The recall was initiated because of the risk of stent fractures and endoleak concerns. The system is used to repair lesions of…

Read More

Editor's Note In response to a May 2020 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services final rule on interoperability and patient access, The Joint Commission has created new requirements that address patient admission, discharge, and transfer notifications. The new requirements, which apply to hospitals and critical access hospitals, address the electronic…

Read More

Editor's Note This multicenter retrospective study led by researchers from George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, DC, found that aspirin use by COVID-19 patients was associated with improved outcomes. Of 412 COVID-19 patients included in the study, 314 (76.3%) did not receive aspirin, and 98 (23.7%) received aspirin within…

Read More

Editor's Note In a science brief based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) analysis of the latest available data, the agency says the risk of getting COVID-19 from surfaces “is generally considered to be low.” The CDC noted that: The risk of COVID-19 infection via surface transmission…

Read More

Editor's Note This study led by the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, finds that early in the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a substantial increase in telehealth use across all surgical specialties, with a slow decline after June 2020. Of 4,405 surgeons included in the study, 2,588 (58.8%) used telehealth in…

Read More

Editor's report A new report released by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) on March 23 details how the COVID-19 pandemic has created new problems and worsened existing issues at US hospitals, leaving staff frustrated, exhausted, and burned out. Among the problems outlined…

Read More

Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), on March 24, identified the recall by Medtronic of its Affinity Pixie Oxygenator and Cardiotomy/Venous Reservoir with Balance Biosurface as Class I, the most serious. The recall was issued because of potentially elevated levels of harmful bacterial endotoxins. Use of a device…

Read More

Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on March 24, released its sentinel event statistics for 2020, which totaled 794. The top five most frequently reported events were: Falls: 170 Unintended retention of a foreign object: 106 Suicide: 81 Delay in treatment: 76 Wrong-site surgery: 68. The Joint Commission’s Office of Quality…

Read More