Perioperative Primary Care Utilization and Postoperative Readmission, Emergency Department Use, and Mortality in Older Surgical Patients.

Background: Postdischarge primary care follow-up is associated with lower readmission rates after medical hospitalizations. However, the effect of primary care utilization on readmission has not been studied in surgical patients.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study of Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 and older undergoing major inpatient diagnostic or therapeutic procedures (n = 3,552,906) from 2017 through 2018, examining the association between postdischarge primary care visits within 14 days of discharge (primary exposure), and Annual Wellness Visits in the year prior (secondary exposure), with 30-day unplanned readmission (primary outcome), emergency department visits, and mortality (secondary outcomes).

Association of neurocognitive disorders with morbidity and mortality in older adults undergoing major surgery in the USA: a retrospective, population-based, cohort study.

Background: Neurocognitive disorders become increasingly common as patients age, and increasing numbers of surgical interventions are done on older patients. The aim of this study was to understand the clinical characteristics and outcomes of surgical patients with neurocognitive disorders in the USA in order to guide future targeted interventions for better care.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study used claims data for US Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 years and older with a record of inpatient admission for a major diagnostic or therapeutic surgical procedure between Jan 1, 2017, and Dec 31, 2018.

Variables associated with cortical motor mapping thresholds: A retrospective data review with a unique case of interlimb motor facilitation.

Introduction: Intraoperative neuromonitoring (IONM) is crucial to preserve eloquent neurological functions during brain tumor resections. We observed a rare interlimb cortical motor facilitation phenomenon in a patient with recurrent high-grade glioma undergoing craniotomy for tumor resection; the patient's upper arm motor evoked potentials (MEPs) increased in amplitude significantly (up to 44.52 times larger,  < 0.

Substitution of medical cannabis for pharmaceutical agents for pain, anxiety, and sleep.

A prior epidemiological study identified a reduction in opioid overdose deaths in US states that legalized medical cannabis (MC). One theory to explain this phenomenon is a potential substitution effect of MC for opioids. This study evaluated whether this substitution effect of MC for opioids also applies to other psychoactive medications.

Chronic pain patients' perspectives of medical cannabis.

Medical cannabis (MC) is used for a variety of conditions including chronic pain. The goal of this report was to provide an in-depth qualitative exploration of patient perspectives on the strengths and limitations of MC. Members of MC dispensaries (N = 984) in New England including two-thirds with a history of chronic pain completed an online survey.