Saturday, September 22, 2012

Surgery Mortality Rates Underestimated



FierceHealthcare has;
September 21, 2012 | By Alicia Caramenico

New research shows twice as many people die after surgery in U.K. hospitals as previously thought, causing medical experts to worry the surgery death rate is higher in the U.S. as well, ABC News reported.

The study, published today in The Lancet, found that the overall risk of dying within two months of surgery 3.6 percent, more than double the previous 1.6 percent findings for dying within 30 days, reported The Telegraph.

Lead researcher Rupert Pearse noted that the fact that more patients died in the second month cannot account for the difference, as most deaths occur during the first seven to 10 days after surgery, The Telegraph reported.

At U.S. hospitals, the surgery death rate is 1.14 percent, according to ABC News. Although some experts wonder if similar research would bump up the figure.

"Compared to overall [death rates], the U.S. is probably better, but compared to [certain] individual countries, we're probably worse," David Penson, director of the Center for Surgical Quality and Outcomes Research at the Vanderbilt Institute of Medicine and Public Health, told ABC News

Varying mortality rates between countries highlight the need for national and international strategies to improve care for surgical patients, the study states.

Such strategies could help reduce hospital readmissions, as about one in 10 general surgery patients return to the hospital, mostly due to postoperative complications, according to a study published in the September Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

For more:
- check out the study 
abstract
- read the 
ABC News article
- here's the 
Telegraph article


Thank You FierceHealthcare and Ms Caramenico



Study: 15% of Surgeons Abuse Alcohol
"However, the survey "may not accurately reflect the true incidence of alcoholism among surgeons," the authors warned. They cautioned that this study was limited, in that only 29 percent of people responded to the poll, according to medpage Today." 
"The most important thing here is to note that physicians are not immune from these kinds of problems," said John Fromson, a codirector of postgraduate medical education at Massachusetts General Hospital and an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, who wrote an editorial on study. "I don't think patients and their families need to be alarmed. (?????) But the reality is that the more we talk about it, the greater the chances of recognizing the factors and stressors that contribute to it among those who need help."


"Historically, the medical profession has had a reputation for high rates of alcohol consumption," wrote the researchers from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. "It is likely that surgeons are unaware (???) that next-day surgical performance may be compromised as a result of significant alcohol intake."

"It is Likely that Surgeons are Unaware."

Q: How is Anyone That Stupid allowed to Purchase a Work License to cut up other Living Human Beings?
"But the reality is that the more we talk about it, the greater the chances of recognizing the factors and stressors that contribute to it among those who need help."

[Ed: The Reality is that it's gotten So out of hand that we're going to need Breathalyzers at the door of the OR, ...... unless we want to keep "Talking about it until Hell Freezes Over, as it Keeps Happening."

"So why aren't depressed docs seeking treatment for a common illness that millions of Americans have learned to manage with therapy and readily available medications? Because they worry—not without reason—that if they admit to a mental-health problem they could lose respect, referrals, income and even their licenses." .....
"One way to address physician suicide, says Reynolds, is to focus on medical students and residents, since depression often starts in young adulthood. Medical schools across the country have launched programs that, among other things, guarantee students who seek help that it will not appear on their records. , .....
"But the reality is that the more we talk about it, the greater the chances of recognizing the factors and stressors that contribute to it among those who need help."

Q: If it's actually "Help" Why does it have to be kept off of their records?

A: Because "IT" is Not "Help" in any way, shape, or form and the people inflicting it, at TAXPAYER EXPENSE, full well Know "IT" is Not "Help" because they won't wear it on their Own records.

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