Over the last 5 years, the perioperative surgical home (PSH) model has attracted increasing interest from OR directors, anesthesiologists, and surgeons. This team-based, patient-centered approach coordinates all phases of surgical care, from preoperative assessment through intraoperative care and postdischarge recovery. According to the American Society of Anesthesiologists, PSH initiatives have…

Read More

Editor's Note The Risk Analysis Index (RAI) frailty screening tool, which was previously validated in the VA health system, can be efficiently implemented in multispecialty, multihospital healthcare systems to predict adverse postoperative outcomes, including mortality, readmission, and extended hospital stays, this study finds. From July 1 to December 31, 2016,…

Read More

Editor's Note Common definitions of malnutrition do not apply to all cancers, and the best approach for surgeons to identify malnourished cancer patients preoperatively is specifically related to the type of cancer the patient has, this study finds. Of 205,840 major cancer surgical procedures for six different cancers analyzed: 16%…

Read More

Healthcare technology can be a great thing, but nurses at Abington—Jefferson Health, in Abington, Pennsylvania, have discovered that sometimes stepping back from it is the best way to make progress. Going low-tech was the key that unlocked patient flow gridlock that had plagued the postanesthesia care unit (PACU). Before 2017,…

Read More

Implementation of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Health System in Richmond has been achieved through project and change management tools that transform the current state to the desired future state. To hardwire ERAS protocols in the OR as well as the ambulatory and acute care…

Read More

Editor's Note In this study from the University of Virginia, new geriatric-specific characteristics were found to raise the risk of elderly surgical patients having unplanned readmissions within a month of leaving the hospital. The four geriatric-specific risk factors for readmission include: cognitive impairment requiring another person to sign the patient’s…

Read More

Editor's Note Increased adherence to an Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocol after total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA) was associated with a decrease in postoperative complications in this study from Spain. However, only a few interventions were linked to decreased complications In this analysis of 6,146…

Read More

Editor's Note The implementation of an aviation-style computerized surgical safety checklist displayed on a large, centrally located screen and operated by the anesthesia provider improved checklist performance in this study. A total of 671 cases were observed before and 547 cases after implementation of the computerized checklist system. The proportion…

Read More

Editor's Note In this Canadian study, older patients with frailty were significantly more likely to die or experience a new disability within 90 days after surgery. This prospective multicenter study included 702 patients, 65 years or older, having elective noncardiac surgery; 645 patients completed follow up. Frailty status was determined…

Read More

Editor's Note In this study, an outpatient fracture pathway greatly improved the efficiency and timeliness of care, and it reduced costs. A total of 187 patients during the preintervention period and 308 patients during the intervention period were eligible for the ambulatory pathway. Those managed as outpatients increased from 1.6%…

Read More