I’ll start with an apology: I’ve not been on my A-game with keeping up with the blog lately. Lots of life distractions, many of which I’m hopeful will start to settle down soon. It’s not been easy.
So, it is April, and a number of things out there have caught my eye.
The March print edition of JAMASurgery included this systematic review and metaanalysis of causes of attrition in general surgery residency. While I’m reasonably certain we can’t get the rate to zero because there are factors we cannot control, we must do what we can.
While we are all becoming painfully aware that too many narcotics are being prescribed for our patients, we tend to not have a good understanding of what constitutes too many or too much. This study provides an important baseline for us as surgeons. I will also note that Annals of Surgery will have an ongoing series examining the opiod crisis from a surgical perspective.
We’re definitely talking more about delirium mitigation in our adult ICU patient population. What about the children? Apparently it’s a problem for them too (particularly with “inflammatory disorders,” which would definitely be my patient population!).
Going a bit outside of the medical journals, what’s next in hospital innovations to keep patients safe? I was thrilled to see my friend Amir Ghaferi‘s name as first author on this piece.
Pleasure reading? Our book group is spending the next two months with one of my all-time favorites: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon. I am looking forward to re-experiencing it.