ICG has myriad applications and poses low risk to the patient. Its historical uses have contributed to medical knowledge, and it is now undergoing investigation for quantifying tissue perfusion, providing targeted therapies, and intraoperative identification of neurovascular anatomy, ophthalmic structures, and sentinel lymph nodes. New applications of ICG may lead to reduction in postoperative wound-related complications, more effective ophthalmologic procedures, and better detection and treatment of cancer cells.

PreambleThe guidelines for the surgical treatment of esophageal achalasia are a series of systematically developed statements to assist surgeon (and patient) decisions about the appropriate use of minimally invasive techniques for the treatment of achalasia in specific clinical circumstances. It addresses the indications, risks, benefits, outcomes, alternatives, and controversies of the procedures used to treat this condition. The statements included in this guideline are the product of a systematic review of published work on the topic, and the recommendations are explicitly linked to the supporting evidence. The strengths and weaknesses of the available evidence are highlighted, and expert opinion is sought where published evidence lacks depth. DisclaimerClinical practice guidelines are intended to indicate the best available approach to medical conditions as established by a systematic review of available data and expert opinion. The approach suggested may not necessarily be the only acceptable approach given the complexity of the healthcare environment. These guidelines are intended to be flexible, because the surgeon must always choose the approach best suited to the individual patient and variables in existence at the moment of decision. These guidelines are applicable to all physicians who are appropriately credentialed and address the clinical situation in question, regardless of specialty.Guidelines are developed under the auspices of SAGES-the guidelines committee-and are approved by the Board of Governors. The recommendations of each guideline undergo multidisciplinary review and are considered valid at the time of production based on the data available. New developments in medical research and practice pertinent to each guideline are reviewed, and guidelines will be periodically updated. Literature review methodA systematic literature search was performed on MED-LINE in October 2010. The search strategy was limited to adult English language articles and is shown in Fig. 1.We identified 214 relevant articles. The abstracts were reviewed by four committee members (DS, WR, TMF, and GPK) and divided into the following categories:(a) Randomized studies, meta-analyses, and systematic reviews and Other Interventional Techniques (b) Prospective studies (c) Retrospective studies (d) Case reports (e) Review articlesRandomized controlled trials, meta-analyses, and systematic reviews were selected for further review along with prospective and retrospective studies that included at least 50 patients. Studies with smaller samples were considered when additional evidence was lacking. The most recent reviews also were included. All case reports, old reviews, and smaller studies were excluded. According to these exclusion criteria, 102 articles were selected for review. Whenever the available evidence from Level I studies was considered to be adequate, lower evidence level studies were not considered.The reviewers graded the level of evidence and manually searched the bibliography of each article for additional articl...

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Generating over four billion pounds of waste each year, the healthcare system in the United States is the second largest contributor of trash with one-third produced by operating rooms. Our objective is to assess improvement in waste reduction and recycling after implementation of a Green Operating Room Committee (GORC) at our institution. A surgeon and nurse-initiated GORC was formed with members from corporate leadership, nursing, anesthesia, and OR staff. Initiatives for recycling opportunities, reduction of energy and water use as well as solid waste were implemented and the results were recorded. Since formation of GORC in 2008, our OR has diverted 6.5 tons of medical waste. An effort to recycle all single-use devices was implemented with annual solid waste reduction of approximately 12,860 lbs. Disposable OR foam padding was replaced with reusable gel pads at greater than $50,000 per year savings. Over 500 lbs of previously discarded batteries were salvaged from the OR and donated to charity or redistributed in the hospital ($9,000 annual savings). A “Power Down” initiative to turn off all anesthesia and OR lights and equipment not in use resulted in saving $33,000 and 234.3 metric tons of CO2 emissions reduced per year. Converting from soap to alcohol-based waterless scrub demonstrated a potential saving of 2.7 million liters of water annually. Formation of an OR committee dedicated to ecological initiatives can provide a significant opportunity to improve health care's impact on the environment and save money.

Many surgeons are concerned about career-ending or limiting musculoskeletal pain. Intraoperative TSMB may represent a practical, effective means to reduce surgeon pain, enhance performance, and increase mental focus without extending operative time.

Acute colonic pseudo-obstruction (ACPO) is a rare but often fatal disease. Herein, we present the largest study to date on ACPO. The National Inpatient Sample was queried for ACPO diagnoses from 1998 to 2011. Patients were analyzed by treatment into four groups: medical management (MM), colonoscopy alone [(endoscopy-only group) ENDO], surgery alone (SURG), or surgery and colonoscopy (SAC). Logistic regression was used to identify predictors of adverse outcomes by treatment group. There were 106,784 cases of ACPO: 96,657 (90.5%) MM, 2,915 (2.7%) ENDO, 6,731 (6.3%) SURG, and 481 (0.5%) SAC. The medical complication (45.7%), procedural complication (15.9%), and mortality rates (7.7%) were high. Increasing procedure invasiveness was independently associated with higher odds of medical complications, procedural complications, and death ( P < 0.0125). The odds of death were significantly higher in the ENDO [odds ratio (OR) = 1.2], SURG (OR 1.4), and SAC (OR = 1.8) groups ( P < 0.0125). Those who fail MM and require procedures have increasing morbidity and mortality with increasing invasiveness, likely reflecting the severity of their conditions.

The present study confirms that the CCS questionnaire is a validated, sensitive, and robust instrument for assessing QOL after hernia repair, which has become a predominant outcome measure in this discipline of surgery.

Management of mesh infections is a complex, yet commonly faced problem. Strategies used in the prevention and surgical treatment of infected mesh should continue to be supported by high-quality evidence from prospective studies.