A survey of 127 participants (25 trainers and 102 trainees) revealed dissatisfaction with the quality of surgical residency training in Nigeria, with 72% of trainers and 93% of trainees expressing discontent. The dissatisfaction stemmed from factors like inadequate mentorship, research, funding, and training facilities. While supervision was rated as adequate, both groups identified high clinical […]

An analysis of publicly available data from 2018 to 2023 reveals that while the representation of Asians in medical school and surgical training has increased, there remains a disparity at leadership levels. The proportion of Asian medical students rose from 21.6% to 24.8%, but Asian surgical residency applicants stayed constant at 20%. Asian certifications by […]

Consensus recommendations were developed in Singapore for recognizing and managing sarcopenia in surgical patients, crucial for optimizing postoperative outcomes. A multidisciplinary expert panel formulated eight evidence-based statements to guide the identification and perioperative management of sarcopenia, emphasizing the importance of awareness and consensus in addressing this common condition among older surgical patients. Journal Article by […]

Surgical and anesthesiology departments in high-income countries adapted to COVID-19 through staffing changes and task-shifting. A scoping review of 108 articles revealed these common strategies, emphasizing that well-resourced surgical systems were more resilient during the pandemic. However, the absence of reports from low-income countries suggests a gap in understanding their responses. Strengthening surgical systems could […]

Meta-analyses show that the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist is associated with lower complication and mortality rates. However, the studies in these analyses were mostly observational, with potential biases, leading to critically low overall confidence in the results. Using the AMSTAR 2 assessment tool, the systematic review highlighted the limitations in statistical methods and publication bias. […]

Transfer of technical surgical skills from laparoscopic to robot-assisted surgery is feasible and efficient, facilitating combined training and credentialing. However, no evidence supports skill transfer from open to robot-assisted surgery. Recommendations for future studies aim to enhance comparability and significance in assessing skill transfer across surgical modalities. Meta-Analysis by Schmidt MW, Fan C (…) Kowalewski […]

A systematic review and meta-analysis examined postoperative mortality in Ethiopia, revealing a pooled mortality rate of 4.53% (95% CI: 3.70-5.37). Significant factors associated with increased mortality included an American Society of Anesthesiologists score of ≥III (AOR: 2.45, 95% CI: 2.02-2.96), age ≥65 years (AOR: 3.03, 95% CI: 2.78-3.31), and comorbidity (AOR: 3.28, 95% CI: 1.91-5.63). […]

Prescribing variation after surgery is largely influenced by prescriber-level factors, with a significant proportion of unwarranted variation in opioid quantities identified. Unwarranted covariates associated with higher opioid quantities include race, insurance status, smoking history, discharge times, and prescriber type. Targeting prescribers through education and training may effectively reduce excessive postoperative opioid prescribing practices. Journal Article […]

A study using a surgical app to track operating room (OR) inefficiencies found that incidents causing delays averaged 2.7 per procedure, contributing to an overall case duration of 109 minutes. On average, each incident caused a 2.8-minute delay, with some causing longer delays. The study, which observed 151 general surgery procedures, identified procedural steps most […]