Reduction in Prescribed Opioids after General Surgery Procedures at a Public Hospital.

Overdose of opioids is the number one cause of accidental death in the United States, and surgeons are overprescribing these medications. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of implementing postoperative opioid prescribing guidelines for general surgery procedures at a public hospital, where patients have lower socioeconomic status, public insurance, and limited access to care. We implemented a quality improvement project, which included in-service training for surgical staff and distribution of standardized guidelines.

Follow-up trends after emergency department discharge for acutely symptomatic hernias: A southwestern surgical congress multi-center trial.

Background: The objective of this multi-center study was to examine the follow-up trends after emergency department (ED) discharge in a large and socioeconomically diverse patient population.

Methods: We performed a 3-year retrospective analysis of adult patients with acutely symptomatic hernias who were discharged from the EDs of five geographically diverse hospitals.

Results: Of 674 patients, 288 (43%) were evaluated in the clinic after discharge from the ED and 253 (37%) underwent repair.

Investigating Gender Differences in Faculty Evaluations by Trainees in a Gender-Balanced General Surgery Program.

Purpose: Women account for 21% of faculty positions in general surgery. In fields with lower female representation, female faculty receive lower evaluation scores by trainees compared to male faculty. At 42%, the female faculty representation in our general surgery department doubles the national average.

Pyloroplasty for Refractory Gastroparesis.

Gastroparesis is a chronic gastric motility disorder in which the pathophysiology mimics a postvagotomy state. Pyloroplasty is beginning to emerge as a successful drainage procedure for refractory gastroparesis. Here we report our experience using pyloroplasty in the surgical management of diabetic and nondiabetic gastroparesis.