Journal of the American College of Surgeons
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Because of concerns about provider contamination during tracheostomy procedures in a pandemic such as COVID-19, it is essential to objectively evaluate aerosol generation in all tracheostomy approaches, including newly developed tracheostomy procedures. We performed open surgical tracheostomy (OST), conventional percutaneous tracheostomy (CPT), and novel percutaneous tracheostomy (NPT), a modification of CPT designed to reduce contamination spread, in pig models and then compared the degree of contamination to providers using Glo Germ (Glo Germ, Moab, UT, USA). ⋯ Our results suggest that OST causes significantly less aerosol contamination to providers than either CPT or NPT.
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Near-infrared fluorescence cholangiography (NIRFC) improves the clinical effects of laparoscopic cholecystectomy. However, the administration of indocyanine green (ICG) remains controversial. Both the intraoperative (IS, 0.05mg) and preoperative (PS, 0.25mg/kg body weight, 1 day before operation) strategies have been shown to be superior to standard strategy (2.5mg, intraoperative). This trial was designed to determine whether IS offers non-inferior visualization of biliary ducts compared to PS. ⋯ While IS did not improve the SBR, it significantly reduced the FI of the liver background, potentially enhancing the surgeon's subjective perception and thereby increasing the visualization score. Compared to PS, IS offers greater convenience and is more effective in facilitating CVS exposure.
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Leadership is a skill that all surgeons are confronted with in some capacity. Surprisingly in the US most training programs do not offer a structured program in leadership and there certainly are no metrics used to assess leadership competency. As a response to this, at The Society for Clinical Vascular Surgery (SCVS) a panel of leaders in vascular surgery both national and international, along with leadership experts discussed some of the salient issues in this space. This document is the result of this discussion and serves as a good framework for understanding needs and current shortcomings of leadership training.
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CPT codes for ventral hernia repair (VHR) changed in January 2023 to address the heterogeneity of procedures with a concomitant shift from a 90-day to a 0-day global period. This study reviews a tertiary referral center's experience with hernia coding comparing the work relative value units (wRVUs) generated for ventral hernia repair pre-2023 compared to post-2023. ⋯ Procedural wRVUs for anterior abdominal hernia repair increased from 2022 to 2023 (p<0.001) at a tertiary referral medical center. However, total wRVUs, including the operation and postoperative visits, remained unchanged.