PURPOSE OF REVIEW Although significant achievements have been made in the perioperative care of patients undergoing cardiac surgery, adverse cerebral outcomes remain an ongoing concern. Multiple approaches have been utilized to address neurologic complications, though definitive therapeutic strategies are lacking. This review focuses on the various cerebral monitoring options that can be used i...

BACKGROUND In Denmark, approximately 12,000 hip and knee arthroplasties were performed in 2006, and the hospital costs were close to US$ 110,000,000. In a randomized clinical trial, we have recently demonstrated the efficacy of accelerated perioperative care and rehabilitation intervention after hip and knee arthroplasty compared to current intervention under ideal circumstances. We do not, how...

Preventing infection in the perioperative setting is a critical element of patient and health care worker safety. This article reviews the recommendations in the AORN "Recommended practices for prevention of transmissible infections in the perioperative practice setting." The recommended practices are intended to help perioperative nurses implement standard and transmission-based precautions (i...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Cardiac surgery patients commonly present bleeding complications that negatively influence patient's clinical outcome. Therefore, fast and detailed diagnoses as well as early and specific therapy of perioperative coagulopathy are of high clinical relevance. The so-called point-of-care (POC) methods for coagulation analyses are increasingly used in perioperative care. It is the...

Surgical injury is followed by pain, stress-induced catabolism, impairment of organ function, and a risk of thromboembolism and impaired cognitive function. These events may contribute to complications, a need for prolonged hospitalization, postoperative fatigue, delayed convalescence, and the need for rehabilitation. Optimization of the individual care components in perioperative care (the fas...

OBJECTIVE To develop process-based quality indicators to improve perioperative care for elderly surgical patients. BACKGROUND The population is aging and expanding, and physicians must continue to optimize elderly surgical care to meet the anticipated increase in surgical services. We sought to develop process-based quality indicators applicable to virtually all disciplines of surgery to iden...

OBJECTIVES The prevalence of diabetes mellitus is increasing. Previous work has shown that suboptimal glycaemic control is associated with poor perioperative outcomes with increased rates of postoperative morbidity and mortality in several surgical specialities. Recently published UK guidelines have laid out the standards of perioperative care for patients with diabetes. Because an increasing n...

The disparity in health outcomes between Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians continues to increase. Barriers accessing care, particularly surgical treatment, contribute inequalities among Australians. Despite a positive correlation improved patient experiences outcomes, there is little research available on nursing interventions improve patients’ perioperative care treatment.