Surgical Residents’ Poor Understanding of Operating Room Supply Costs and the Need for Education
Surgical residents have a poor understanding of the costs of common operating room supplies, and this does not improve with post-graduate training. A survey of 73 residents revealed that they accurately estimated costs for only 7 out of 21 items, with considerable error ranging from 26% to 5438%. They significantly underestimated the costs of the three highest-cost items. This study highlights the need for education to increase residents’ awareness of costs and ultimately reduce surgical healthcare expenses.
Closing a midline laparotomy with small, closely spaced fascial bites prevents more incisional hernias than the traditional large-bite technique, and the benefit lasts beyond two years.
Over five decades, surgery went from the most disruptive research field to the only one where papers, on average, reinforce existing ideas rather than redirect the field.
Members of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons want a say in how surgery will work beyond Earth, and robotics tops their list.
