Tag: Preoperative Care

Personalized perioperative pain management reduces opioid use

Editor's Note Helping patients taper opioids preoperatively before deploying multimodal care strategies can help prevent instances of patients already with prescriptions going home with even higher doses. That’s the main takeaway from an April 22 MedCentral interview with Marie N. Hanna, MD, division chief for regional anesthesia and acute pain…

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By: Matt Danford
April 24, 2025
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Communications skills keep surgical patients engaged, informed

JAMA (healthcare publication) Network logo

Editor's Note An April 16 article in JAMA Network outlines a three-part communications framework for improving the quality and clarity of perioperative conversations with patients, particularly when time is limited and stakes are high. The article focuses particularly on three core communications skills: attending to emotion, managing uncertainty, and supporting…

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By: Matt Danford
April 22, 2025
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Study: CT scan radiation could drive 5% of future cancer cases

Editor's Note Current US CT scan practices could lead to approximately 103,000 future cancers—nearly 5% of all new annual diagnoses—if utilization and radiation dosing patterns persist, according to a risk modeling study published April 14 in JAMA Internal Medicine. Authors emphasized that although CT is often lifesaving, its risks are…

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By: Matt Danford
April 18, 2025
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Bye-bye, SSI: Nurse-led decolonization protocol pays off

Imagine completely eliminating surgical site infections (SSIs) without significantly disrupting perioperative workflows. At Magic Valley Regional Medical Center (MVMC), a mid-sized community hospital in Twin Falls, Idaho, a nurse-led pilot project accomplished just that for breast and colorectal surgeries. As for other procedures, overall infection rates are down by nearly…

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By: Michelle Stierstorfer
April 16, 2025
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Study: GLP-1 drugs heighten risk of gastric residue but not perioperative pulmonary aspiration

Editor's Note Taking GLP-1 receptor agonists before anesthesia increases the risk of residual gastric contents, but evidence is lacking for a corresponding increase in perioperative pulmonary aspiration risk, according research published April 15 in the journal Anaesthesia. The systematic review and meta-analysis analyzed 28 observational studies involving over 466,000 patients…

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By: Matt Danford
April 16, 2025
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Study: Preoperative VR reduces ICU sedation, ventilator time

Editor's Note A recent study shows potentially significant promise for preoperative virtual reality (VR) simulation to improve surgical patient outcomes. Published March 1 in the American Journal of Critical Care, the research details how VR reduced ICU sedation and ventilator time for patients undergoing elective cardiothoracic surgery. Although the program…

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By: Matt Danford
April 7, 2025
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Study: Early-stage breast cancer surgery may not be necessary after chemo, radiation

Editor's Note Some patients with early-stage breast cancer who achieve a complete response to pre-surgical chemotherapy and radiation may safely avoid surgery, according to a March 27 announcement from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The report details a Phase II trial, published in JAMA Oncology, finding that…

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By: Matt Danford
April 3, 2025
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Study: Preop mental health assessment improves postop outcomes for older patients

Editor's Note Preoperative mental health assessment significantly increases the odds of a postoperative “textbook outcome” for older patients, according to research published on March 15 in the journal Surgery. The median age for the patient population analyzed at the time of surgery was 74 years. Focusing on more than 32,500…

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By: Tarsilla Moura
March 28, 2025
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Study: No significant link between GLP-1 drugs, postoperative aspiration pneumonia

Editor's Note Preoperative use of GLP-1 receptor agonists was not significantly associated with an increased risk of aspiration pneumonia or acute respiratory failure after surgery, according to a March 4 report in MedPage Today. The article focuses on a retrospective cohort study of over 366,000 surgical patients found no meaningful…

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By: Matt Danford
March 14, 2025
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Research highlights anesthesia provider knowledge gap on drug, hormonal contraceptive interactions

Editor's Note Insufficient awareness of drug interactions with hormonal contraceptives (HCs) among anesthesia providers could lead to unintended pregnancies and preventable health consequences, according to survey published in Anesthesia & Analgesia. Physician’s Weekly covered the news February 27. The article specifically cites sugammedex and aprepitant, both of which are widely…

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By: Matt Danford
February 28, 2025
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