November 13, 2024
Hospitalists plus students
Direct care hospitalist teaching services have been on the rise, giving physicians and students more time to interact.
Procedures for saving the planet
An internal medicine team redesigned their procedure cart and halved the waste produced by bedside procedures.
Midline safe alternative to PICC for OPAT after discharge, retrospective study finds
In patients getting outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) for two weeks or less, major complication rates were lower with midline catheters than peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs). For longer dwell times, complication and failure rates were similar between devices.
Postop delirium risk, appropriate prevention strategy varies by surgery type
Older patients undergoing noncardiac surgery could be categorized into phenotypes that reflect their delirium risk and highlight potentially effective prevention strategies, from prehabilitation to proactive pain management, a retrospective study found.
Nearly half of deaths among patients hospitalized for flu occur postdischarge
Only 37% of patients who died within 30 days of discharge from an influenza hospitalization had flu listed as a cause of death and this was less likely the longer the time between hospitalization and death, indicating that the link may be underappreciated, according to a recent study.
Functional impairments predict readmissions among older patients
Measures including hand grip strength, Short Physical Performance Battery scores, gait speed, low mobility, and the Timed Up-and-Go Test, used either before or during admission, identified those at higher risk for readmission within 90 days, according to a systematic review.
Take a quiz about the Nov. 6 issue!
Every week, ACP Hospitalist posts a question about the previous week's issue. See how well you remember what you've read compared to other readers.