In a new study on how often medication errors occur during surgery researchers report that mistakes were made during almost half of the operations they analyzed. The mistakes included drug labeling errors, incorrect dosing, drug documentation mistakes, and/or failing to properly treat changes in a patient’s vital signs during surgery. Overall, a medication error or adverse drug […]
Read MoreIn 2010, an estimated 693,400 total knee replacements were performed in adults aged 45 years and older, according to a new data brief from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). In 2010 (and 2009 and 2008 as well), total knee arthroplasty was the most frequently performed inpatient procedure in […]
Read MoreUndergoing an endovascular repair instead of an open repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms confers a modestly greater likelihood of survival, but higher reintervention and rupture rates, according to a retrospective study published in the September JAMA Surgery. “[U]nlike the clinical trial results, we found the survival advantage for [endovascular] repair to be maintained until 3 years […]
Read MoreThe heat of breast-cancer-related hot flashes can be effectively diminished with an ancient Chinese medical practice infused with a dash of modernity, suggests research in the August Journal of Clinical Oncology. Electroacupuncture, in which small electric currents are applied to traditional acupuncture needles, might be more effective than gabapentin, a drug commonly used in this setting, according […]
Read MoreThe US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the opioid oxycodone (OxyContin, Purdue Pharma LP) for pediatric patients aged 11 to 16 years with pain severe enough to require daily, around-the-clock, long-term opioid treatment and for which alternative treatment options are inadequate. “We requested the manufacturer of the pain management drugOxyContin perform studies evaluating safety […]
Read MoreI thought this was interesting so I wanted to share this is for our pain docs. Young adult opioid users are often the victims of sexual violence, according to results of a survey of opioid users in New York City. Among 164 men and women aged 18 to 29 years reporting heroin and/or nonmedical prescription […]
Read MoreThe US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning that the type 2 diabetes medicines sitagliptin, saxagliptin, linagliptin, and alogliptin may cause joint pain that can be severe and disabling. The FDA has added a new Warning and Precaution about this risk to the labels of all medicines in this drug class, dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) […]
Read MoreIn carefully selected patients, minimally invasive surgery is enabling physicians to stop strokes in their tracks. As more patients undergo such procedures, physicians are debating the best way to anesthetise them. Should patients be put under general anaesthesia or should they undergo conscious sedation? In the September, 2015 issue of the Journal of Stroke and […]
Read MoreHospitals and other healthcare facilities should stop using the Symbiq Infusion System manufactured by Hospira because hackers could gain access to the device and give patients life-threatening overdoses or underdoses of drugs, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced today. Hospira has ceased making this line of computerized infusion pumps for unrelated reasons and […]
Read MoreMusic played during surgery can interfere with team communication, yet it is seldom recognized as a potential safety hazard, according to the authors of a study published in the August Journal of Advanced Nursing. Sharon-Marie Weldon, RN, senior research officer/nurse from the Department of Cancer and Surgery, Imperial College London, United Kingdom, and colleagues studied […]
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