Editor's Note The timing of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is important to optimize its benefits, but 90% of patients are waiting too long to have it and getting less benefits, and some 25% of patients are having it prematurely when the benefits are  minimal, this study finds. Of 3,417 knees…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on January 21 confirmed the first case of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) from China in the state of Washington. The patient recently returned from Wuhan, China, where an outbreak of pneumonia caused by this virus has been ongoing since…

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Editor's Note The effectiveness of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in managing pain, healing, and recovery after bone fracture depends on when you take them, this study from McGill University finds. The researchers found that NSAIDs are most effective in promoting postoperative healing when taken during the active phase of the…

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Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on January 16 announced that Cardinal Health has alerted it customers to potential quality issues affecting some of its Level 3 surgical gowns and PreSource procedural packs that contain the gowns. Cardinal Health and the FDA recommend that customers immediately discontinue use…

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Editor's Note In this article, the American College of Surgeons and the Johns Hopkins Medicine Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality, which launched the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Safety Program for Improving Surgical Care and Recovery (ISCR) in 2016, announce that they are expanding the scope…

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Editor's Note A survey by IMV Medical Information Division finds that the number of MRI procedures performed in the US rose 8% from 39 million in 2018 to an all-time high of some 42 million in 2019, the January 15 AuntMinnie.com reports. A total of 17% of respondents gave high…

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Editor's Note A virtual system for in-home physical therapy (PT) provided similar patient outcomes after total knee arthroplasty (TKA), with lower costs than traditional in-person PT, finds this study. A total of 306 TKA patients were randomly assigned to have traditional PT, either at home or at clinic visits, or…

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Editor's Note Reproductive hazards are present in the OR and may contribute to pregnancy complications and infertility in female surgeons, this review finds. Hazards include radiation, surgical smoke, working conditions, sharps injuries, anesthetic gases, and intraoperative use of toxic agents. Studies comparing female surgeons with the general population show increased…

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Editor's Note The safety of bariatric surgery has improved since 1993, and there has been a growth in the number of bariatric procedures performed, this study finds. However, utilization has only marginally increased. Of an estimated 1,903,273 patients who had bariatric surgery between 1993 and 2016, the mean age was…

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Editor's Note Royal Philips has issued an urgent field safety notice for its CombiDiagnost R90 GCF fluoroscopy system, the January 10 MassDevice reports. When the tilting feature is used, the device could be locked in a “Table Up/Down” state, an issue that could result in the entry of contrast agent…

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