Timing of Postoperative Stroke and Risk of Mortality After Noncardiac Surgery: A Cohort Study.

Background: Postoperative stroke is a devastating complication of surgery, given its association with severe long-term disability and mortality. Previous investigators have confirmed the association of stroke with postoperative mortality. However, limited data exist regarding the relationship between the timing of stroke and survival.

Evaluating the Efficacy of Two Regional Pain Management Modalities in Autologous Breast Reconstruction.

Unlabelled: At our institution, multimodal opiate-sparing pain management is the cornerstone of our enhanced recovery program for autologous breast reconstruction. The purpose of this study was to compare postoperative outcomes and pain control metrics following implementation of an enhanced recovery program with two different regional analgesia approaches.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study identified 145 women who underwent autologous breast reconstruction from 2015 to 2017.

Primary Stroke and Failure-to-Rescue Following Thoracic Endovascular Aortic Aneurysm Repair.

Objective: To characterize the impact, on failure to rescue, of cerebrovascular accident as a first postoperative complication after thoracic endovascular aortic aneurysm repair (TEVAR).

Design: A retrospective cohort study using of National Surgical Quality Improvement Program Participants User File.

Setting: United States hospitals taking part in the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program.

Improving Operating Room Efficiency: First Case On-Time Start Project.

Background: Operating rooms (ORs) are costly to run, and multiple factors influence efficiency. The first case on-time start (FCOS) of an OR is viewed as a harbinger of efficiency for the daily schedule. Across 26 ORs of a large, academic medical center, only 49% of cases started on time in October 2011.

Anesthesia-related cardiac arrest.

Background: Much is still unknown about the actual incidence of anesthesia-related cardiac arrest in the United States.

Methods: The authors identified all of the cases of cardiac arrest from their quality improvement database from 1999 to 2009 and submitted them for review by an independent study commission to give them the best estimate of anesthesia-related cardiac arrest at their institution. One hundred sixty perioperative cardiac arrests within 24 h of surgery were identified from an anesthesia database of 217,365 anesthetics.

High incidence of burnout in academic chairpersons of anesthesiology: should we be taking better care of our leaders?

Background: Burnout is a work-related psychologic syndrome characterized by emotional exhaustion, low personal accomplishment, and depersonalization.

Methods: By using an instrument that included the MBI-HHS Burnout Inventory, we surveyed academic anesthesiology chairpersons in the United States. Current level of job satisfaction compared with 1 and 5 yr before the survey, likelihood of stepping down as chair in the next 2 yr, and a high risk of burnout were the primary outcomes.