What’s caught my eye in the literature lately?  A few things.

• The POISE-2 trial’s aspirin data, showing that perioperative aspirin in non-cardiac surgery patients increases the risk of perioperative bleeding but doesn’t impact the risk of MI or cardiac death in that same time period.
• A decrease in complications in Florida that is driven by a NSQIP-based quality improvement process.
• The evidence-based modern management of diverticular disease.  As someone without a general surgery practice, this review provided a nice way to keep me current on an important disease in general surgical practice.
• PPIs may not be the Holy Grail of GI prophylaxis in the ICU.  Provocative data, to be sure, and the authors’ call for a prospective multicenter trial is appropriate.
• Does Gabapentin help with the management of post burn pain?  Apparently not, at least for non-neuropathic pain.  To be answered:  The role of Gabapentin in burn itch.
• Sarah Smailes’ group in the UK continues to generate terrific work on the role of tracheostomy in burn patients, this time comparing perch trach and surgical trach complications and dysphagia.
• And, last but not least, my work with a wonderful group of surgeons on the use of Twitter at academic surgical meetings.  Our publication stands in interesting contradistinction to the conversation I had with 20 4th year medical students on Friday in which I discovered that zero of them are on Twitter.  Many of them said, “We don’t understand the point of Twitter.” Here’s hoping that giving them some professional justification can change their hearts and minds.