Operating Room Inefficiencies Attributable to Errors in Surgical Case Scheduling and Surgeon Procedure Heterogeneity.

This study examined effects of scheduling errors on operating room efficiency and surgeon procedure heterogeneity on the rate of incorrectly scheduled cases. Operative cases in an academic center over 11 months were categorized as correctly or incorrectly scheduled. Surgeon heterogeneity was the number of unique procedures performed.

Standardization of Disposable Instruments in Microvascular Breast Reconstruction: A Case Study in Cost Reduction.

 A key avoidable expense in the surgical setting is the wastage of disposable surgical items, which are discarded after cases even if they go unused. A major contributor to wastage of these items is the inaccuracy of surgeon preference cards, which are rarely examined or updated. The authors report the application of a novel technique called cost heatmapping to facilitate standardization of preference cards for microvascular breast reconstruction.

Hypofractionated versus standard radiation therapy with or without temozolomide for older glioblastoma patients.

Purpose: Older patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma have poor outcomes, and optimal treatment is controversial. Hypofractionated radiation therapy (HRT) is frequently used but has not been compared to patients receiving standard fractionated radiation therapy (SRT) and temozolomide (TMZ).

Methods And Materials: We conducted a retrospective analysis of patients ≥65 years of age who received radiation for the treatment of newly diagnosed glioblastoma from 1994 to 2013.

Local control after fractionated stereotactic radiation therapy for brain metastases.

Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is frequently used in the management of brain metastases, but concerns over potential toxicity limit applications for larger lesions or those in eloquent areas. Fractionated stereotactic radiation therapy (SRT) is often substituted for SRS in these cases. We retrospectively analyzed the efficacy and toxicity outcomes of patients who received SRT at our institution.

Aggressive therapy for patients with non-small cell lung carcinoma and synchronous brain-only oligometastatic disease is associated with long-term survival.

Objectives: Optimal therapy for patients with non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) presenting with synchronous brain-only oligometastases (SBO) is not well defined. We sought to analyze the effect of differing therapeutic paradigms in this subpopulation.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively analyzed NSCLC patients with 1-4 SBO diagnosed between 1/2000 and 1/2011 at our institution.