February 2014

A team of researchers have pinpointed the factors that influence endocrinologists' referral patterns for endocrine surgery.

For patients who emerge from epilepsy surgery seizure-free, the complex relationship between depression, anxiety, and seizure control does not guarantee better quality of life.

As surgical site infections are some of the most common postsurgical complications, finding supplies that can reduce their likelihood is critical.

Among hospitals with solid income streams, one might expect the quality of care to be high. However, postsurgical mortality rates and patient-safety indicators showed high-price hospitals perform worse on inpatient care quality than low-price facilities.

Since clinicians at US Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals are concerned that their hip fracture patients will not return to their preoperative functional levels, many wonder if particular types of rehabilitation can improve postoperative outcomes.

Researchers from Finland find high depressive burden is associated with greater disability from the time of lumbar spinal stenosis surgery, including the 5-year point.

Though warfarin is often used to prevent coagulation and treat existing blood clots, many questions arise when geriatric patients who take the anticoagulant fracture a hip.

With a focus on visceral functions, researchers from Italy retrospectively evaluated aortic arch surgery using selective antegrade cerebral perfusion at different temperatures.

Although operating room (OR) efficiency and patient safety improve when a Surgical Safety Checklist (SSC) is used, OR personnel do not always implement SSCs, mainly due to checklist fatigue or the perception that the extra steps take too much time.

Although preoperative fasting is intended to address stomach acid and prevent the aspiration of gastric contents, some experts believe it is based more on tradition than necessity.

The United States government has lifted a federal ban on the transplantation of organs from deceased HIV-infected donors to HIV-infected recipients, and the ramifications of this action are expected to be great.

Although surgeons are not specifically trained to assess patients' ability to drive while wearing a leg cast, a team of researchers found that insurance companies and police forces look to doctors to advise their patients on driving.