Small-bite closure prevents incisional hernias
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.
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Perspectives, Opinions and Curiosities
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Surgery research is becoming less disruptive
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.
Surgeons want to lead space surgery
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.
Days at home track cancer surgery recovery
A 90-day count of days alive and outside care tracked major complications and one-year mortality after elective gastrointestinal cancer surgery.
Cardiac index guidance did not cut complications
Tailoring circulation support to each patient’s usual heart output for their body size did not reduce early complications after major abdominal surgery.
New research priorities for surgical palliative care
A national expert panel says the field needs clearer answers on who benefits from surgical palliative care, when to offer it, and what success looks like.
Longer anticoagulation cuts clots after cancer surgery
After cancer surgery, extended blood thinners reduced venous clots without a detected rise in major bleeding.
Surgical safety depends on systems, not blame
This review argues that preventing surgical harm requires linking event reporting, structured analysis, and ongoing performance review within a just culture—not treating each adverse event as an isolated failure.
Climate extremes may strain general surgery—but evidence is thin
A scoping review found that heat and extreme weather are associated with changing surgical demand, disrupted access, and worse outcomes, but the evidence is too limited to guide practice changes.
Robotic cancer resection linked to fewer open conversions
Across 17 solid-organ cancers, robotic surgery was associated with fewer conversions to open surgery than straight-stick minimally invasive surgery—a consistent finding across organ sites.