Editor's Note Substituting lower-wage staff for registered nurses leads to additional patient deaths, the Washington Post reported on June 15. The article focuses on a study published in the journal Medical Care, noting that the new research coincides with a nationwide shortage of RNs and “reports of widespread burnout.” Researchers…

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Editor's Note A pair of immunotherapy drugs administered before surgery significantly diminished tumor size without serious safety concerns in patients with mismatch repair-deficient (dMMR) colorectal cancer, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Healthline reported the news June 8. Constituting 10-15% of cases, dMMR cancer…

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Editor's Note Robotic liver surgery can be performed safely as an outpatient procedure, according to findings from the City of Hope cancer research organization in Duarte, California. According to a June 10 press release, the study analyzed data of 307 patients who underwent outpatient robotic liver surgery (defined as requiring…

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Editor's Note Bariatric surgery provides longer-lasting, more effective weight loss than GLP-1 receptor agonists and lifestyle interventions, according to systematic reviews of medical literature from 2020 to 2024. Medical Xpress reported the news June 11. Presented at the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) 2024 Annual Scientific Meeting,…

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Editor's Note Two new studies show robotic surgery outperforming laparoscopic approaches to metabolic and bariatric procedures in terms of operating times, length of hospital stay, and complication rates, according to a June 11 report in Medical Xpress. Both studies were presented at the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery…

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Editor's Note Personal patient data could have been compromised in the May 8 cyberattack on Ascension, according to the latest update from the St. Louis-based healthcare system. Posted June 12, the update reveals that attackers accessed files from seven out of 25,000 file servers used for routine tasks, potentially containing…

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Editor's Note In esophageal cancer, combining preoperative and postoperative chemotherapy lead to better outcomes, fewer deaths, and higher likelihood of complete tumor regression than preoperative chemotherapy alone, according to a randomized clinical trial. US News and World Report reported the news June 4. Led by Dr. Jens Hoeppner from the…

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Editor's Note Using a patient’s stem cells to 3D-print patches to place over damaged areas of the heart could provide an alternative to invasive surgery, according to new research detailed in a June 9 report from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Although the technology has yet to be tested on…

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Editor's Note AORN encourages perioperative leaders to speak up and reach out in honor of National Time Out Day, an annual recognition of the critical safety practice scheduled for June 12. The annual day of recognition draws attention to the need for everyone on the surgical team to pause before…

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Editor's Note An AI model that outperformed MRI and ultrasound in identifying patients with axillary breast cancer metastasis shows the technology’s potential to reduce the need for needle or surgical biopsies, according to developers at UT Southwestern Medical Center. In a May 21 report on their new AI model, researchers…

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