Patients facing elective surgery often experience significant spiritual distress, impacting their preoperative mindset and potentially their recovery. In a study of 29 surgical patients, 23 reported spiritual distress, expressing greater anxiety and fear regarding their impending surgery. Conversely, those with higher spiritual well-being approached surgery as a restorative experience, demonstrating resilience. Assessing spiritual well-being may […]

A new classification system called DISH (Dehiscence, Infection, Seroma, Haematoma) standardizes the reporting of surgical site outcomes, enhancing clinical management and research. DISH categorizes outcomes by five grades of intervention (0-4) and four grades of presentation (a-d), providing a detailed snapshot of surgical site status. This system exhibited high reliability, with inter-rater agreement at 0.93 […]

Clinicians face significant challenges when making surgical decisions for patients with dementia due to documentation and communication issues. Difficulty in identifying dementia and assessing patient capacity limits optimal decision-making, worsened by inconsistent electronic health record documentation. Caregivers often play a pivotal role but deal with misaligned expectations and burden, complicating the decision process. Clinicians frequently […]

Fluorescence-guided surgery is recognized in Latin America but remains inconsistently applied across surgical specialties, primarily due to economic and logistical barriers. Adoption is mostly in high-resource, specialized centers, with practical use seen in biliary, breast, urologic, and gastrointestinal surgeries. Barriers include limited operating room access, high costs of equipment and fluorophores, and unclear reimbursement policies, […]

Surgeons’ subjective evaluations before surgery can significantly predict postoperative complications. 10.1% of patients had grade III complications in 2023; this increased to 12.3% in 2024. Surgeons’ preoperative assessment of general condition (q4) is the strongest predictor of severe complications (odds ratio 1.35 per 10-point increase). Surgeons should consider their own insights along with traditional metrics […]

Surgeons must recognize that corporatization is compromising team cohesion and clinical performance. For-profit ownership accounts for 23.7% of U.S. healthcare market share in 2023, affecting surgical autonomy. Pressure for productivity is linked to increased burnout, higher error rates, and lower patient satisfaction. Supporting structures that empower surgeons and maintain accountability could enhance outcomes and team […]

Survivors of early onset solid cancers face high late mortality risks, significantly affecting surgical outcomes. At 40 years post-diagnosis, cumulative all-cause mortality is 50%. Survivors have an all-cause mortality rate 77% higher than the general population. Non-cancer health-related causes eventually lead to more deaths than cancer progression. Surgeons should be aware of these long-term risks […]

Patients are experiencing longer delays for definitive cancer surgery, with median wait times increasing across multiple malignancies since 2012. Median wait times from diagnosis to first surgery rose for breast cancer from 34 to 45 days, and for lung cancer from 41 to 53 days. Delays are significantly longer at academic centers and for patients […]

Surgeons face alarming rates of burnout and mistreatment, impacting retention and well-being. 34.9% of surgical faculty report weekly burnout symptoms. 66.2% have experienced workplace mistreatment, including significant bullying and discrimination. Female surgeons are particularly affected, with 88.6% reporting mistreatment compared to 55.7% of male faculty. Addressing these issues is crucial for improving surgical practice and […]