Perioperative News and Research

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Cardinal Health Foundation to award $1 million grant to help U.S. hospitals

The Cardinal Health Foundation today announced that, for the fourth consecutive year, it will award more than $1 million in grant funding to help U.S. hospitals, health systems and community health clinics improve the efficiency and quality of care.

21 Oct 2010

Elsevier / MC Strategies partners with AORN to develop latest module for Perioperative Collection

Elsevier / MC Strategies a pioneer in providing e-learning solutions to more than 1,300 healthcare organizations, has partnered with the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) to develop the latest module for Mosby's Nursing Skills Perioperative Collection, the only perioperative-specific set of nursing skills approved by AORN to be consistent with the Standards and Recommended Practices.

20 Oct 2010

Study finds massive blood transfusion associated with severe complications

A study presented at this year's American Society of Anesthesiologists Annual Meeting indicates that massive blood transfusion is associated with a significant increase in perioperative risk for mortality, cardiopulmonary complications, and wound-related and infectious complications in the long term.

20 Oct 2010

STOP-BANG questionnaire on sleep apnea syndrome helps identify patients' risk for surgical complication

A research team from the Jefferson Sleep Disorders Center at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital has utilized a simple, eight-item pre-operative questionnaire about obstructive sleep apnea syndrome that could help identify patients at risk for complications following surgery, according to a report in the October issue of Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Individuals prone to the obstructive sleep apnea syndrome as determined by the questionnaire appear to have an increased risk of heart, lung and other complications following elective surgery.

19 Oct 2010

Study reinforces need for physicians to screen obstructive sleep apnea prior to surgery

As Americans get heavier and heavier, the incidence of obstructive sleep apnea increases, and results from two clinical studies presented at ANESTHESIOLOGY 2010 reinforce the need for physicians to screen for the disorder prior to surgery in order to appropriately manage the patient in the operating room.

18 Oct 2010

Yoga exercises may combat fibromyalgia: Research

According to new research conducted at Oregon Health & Science University, yoga exercises may have the power to combat fibromyalgia a medical disorder characterized by chronic widespread pain. The research is being published in the November 10 online edition of the journal Pain and will appear online Thursday, Oct. 14.

14 Oct 2010

Study finds wide variability in use of blood transfusions for coronary artery bypass graft surgery

A study that includes data on more than 100,000 patients who underwent coronary artery bypass graft surgery finds that there is wide variability among hospitals in the U.S. on the use of blood transfusions, without a large difference in the rate of death, suggesting that many transfusions may be unnecessary, according to a study in the October 13 issue of JAMA. Another study in this issue of JAMA examines the effect of a restrictive transfusion strategy on outcomes after cardiac surgery.

13 Oct 2010

Drugs may prevent temporary combativeness in children after surgery

Temporary combativeness after surgery-a complication affecting up to half of anesthetized children-may be preventable with drugs that decrease epinephrine production, according to a Medical College of Georgia pediatric anesthesiologist.

11 Oct 2010

Covidien to showcase innovative surgical products at 96th ACS Clinical Congress

Covidien, a leading global provider of healthcare products, will preview new devices and showcase some of the Company's most innovative products at the 96th Annual Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons.

5 Oct 2010

Best P.A.D. Research Awards honor investigators for research on peripheral arterial disease

The Peripheral Arterial Disease (P.A.D.) Coalition presented the Coalition's second annual Best P.A.D. Research Awards to the top three research papers on P.A.D. published in 2009 at the organization's Seventh Annual Meeting in Alexandria, VA last week. The Best P.A.D. Research Awards honor the work of investigators and acknowledge the creation of new clinical research relevant to the understanding and/or treatment of peripheral arterial disease.

30 Sep 2010

PFO repair may increase odds of postoperative stroke, shows no clear benefit: Study

Patients who have a heart defect known as patent foramen ovale incidentally discovered and repaired during surgery for a different condition may have an increased odds of postoperative stroke, along with no clear benefit on short-term outcomes or long-term survival, according to a study in the July 15 issue of JAMA.

27 Sep 2010

FDA approves Abreu BTT 700 System for temperature monitoring

Brain Tunnelgenix Technologies Corp. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted the company clearance to market its Abreu BTT 700 System for continuous temperature monitoring.

10 Sep 2010

3M to acquire Arizant for $810M

3M announced today it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Arizant Inc. for a purchase price of $810 million in cash. Based in Eden Prairie, Minn., Arizant is a leading manufacturer of patient warming solutions designed to prevent hypothermia in surgical settings.

9 Sep 2010

UCI receives grant to promote patient-centered care

UC Irvine's Department of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Care has been awarded a Picker Institute/Gold Foundation Challenge Grant to change how anesthesiologists are trained, emphasizing the skills necessary to treat patients with compassion and empathy under difficult conditions.

31 Aug 2010

Medical errors cost hospitals $19.5 billion in 2008, says SOA report

A recent report from the Society of Actuaries (SOA) found that medical errors cost hospitals $19.5 billion in 2008. According to the SOA report, the top three most costly medical errors were pressure ulcers, postoperative infections, and mechanical complications of device, implant or graft.

26 Aug 2010

Queensway Carleton Hospital staff to protest against Liberal government's budget cuts

Staff of the Queensway Carleton Hospital represented by CUPE will protest at lunchtime today over $5,000,000 in budget cuts imposed by the provincial Liberal government.

24 Aug 2010

European Association of Urology to publish first case series on RALP

In European Urology, the official journal of the European Association of Urology, a new section will be published as of the September issue: Case Series of the month. This series is dedicated to publishing promising studies which have so far only preliminary results. The Case Series reports on no more than 10 patients and includes illustrative images. A Continuing Medical Education question with multiple choice answers is also included to enable readers to earn CME points.

13 Aug 2010

Researchers examine risk of serious complications associated with bariatric procedure

An examination of hospital complication rates of bariatric surgery for more than 15,000 patients in Michigan finds that the frequency of serious complications is relatively low and is inversely associated with hospital and surgeon procedural volume, according to a study in the July 28 issue of JAMA.

28 Jul 2010

Bay Area Hospital implements Unibased ForSite2020 periOperative Resource Management System

Unibased Systems Architecture, Inc. today announced Bay Area Hospital (BAH) in Coos Bay, Oregon successfully implemented the Unibased ForSite2020® periOperative Resource Management System (ORMS). BAH contracted with Unibased for the complete ForSite2020 surgery management system suite in December 2009 with the goal of achieving total perioperative automation and moving forward with their hospital-wide electronic health record (EHR) initiative.

19 Jul 2010

Picis commends inclusion of ED in final rules for ARRA HITECH meaningful use criteria

Picis executives today weighed in on the final rules for the ARRA HITECH meaningful use criteria issued this week. The company commends policy makers for their comprehensive and diligent work to create a flexible, workable solution that lays the foundation for a strong electronic health record (EHR) plan for the future of U.S. health care.

16 Jul 2010