Editor's Note After six consecutive night shifts, anesthesia residents experienced significantly impaired control of all driving variables including speed, lane position, throttle, and steering in a driving simulator. They also were more likely to be involved in collisions. In addition, reaction times increased with a significant increase in the number of minor…

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Editor's Note Working 46 hours per week or more increases the long-term risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), this study finds. Beginning at 46 hours, increasing work hours were progressively associated with increased risk of CVD (ie, angina, coronary disease, heart failure, heart attack, high blood pressure, or stroke). Compared to…

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Editor's Note A positive safety and teamwork culture and engaged hospital management were associated with lower surgical site infection (SSI) rates after colon surgery in this study. Researchers, led by Martin Makary, MD, from Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, measured 12 dimensions of safety culture and colon SSI rates in surgical…

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Editor's Note The ECRI Institute on January 4 released its annual Top 10 list of important technology related issues that hospital and health system leaders need to pay close attention to this year. The list includes: Medical device cybersecurity (eg, hacking into pacemakers) Miniature leadless pacemakers Changing landscape of robotic…

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Editor's Note Cardiac complications are the leading cause of death within 30 days after noncardiac surgery. This article reviews what is known about perioperative cardiac complications (ie, from induction of anesthesia to within 30 days after surgery), preoperative methods of predicting complications, perioperative cardiac interventions, and postoperative monitoring. The researchers…

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Editor's Note In this study from Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, researchers used a unique multicomponent administrative data set to examine the risk of percutaneous blood and body fluid exposures in the OR over a 10-year period. Of some 333,000 surgical procedures performed, 2,113 blood and body fluid exposures were…

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Research has shown that electrosurgical smoke presents a serious health hazard for the OR team. However, many remain skeptical of its harmful effects, and compliance with smoke evacuation recommendations is not consistent. Electrosurgical smoke results from the vaporization of tissue, fluid, and blood into a gaseous form by electrosurgical instruments.…

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Editor's Note Nearly one-quarter of more than 600 wrong-site surgery events reported to the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority (PPSA) since 2004 have involved wrong-site anesthesia blocks. Based on these findings, PPSA has developed evidence-based practices for preventing wrong-site surgery and wrong-site anesthesia blocks that complement the Joint Commission’s Universal Protocol.…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission has partnered with the Food & Drug Administration, Council for Surgical & Perioperative Safety, and others in the Preventing Surgical Fires Initiative, which has released new, updated resources for preventing surgical fires. These include: A presentation on “Preventing Surgical Fires and Burns in Healthcare Facilities”…

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Studies have estimated the incidence of retained surgical items (RSIs) as one in 5,500 to one in 6,975 cases. In October 2013, The Joint Commission issued a Sentinel Event Alert on RSIs, and periodic reports in the media have raised the public’s awareness of this persistent problem. Effective policies, reliable…

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