Using data from a study that followed more than 1, 700 patients in North America, Europe and Australia long-term after hernia repair, Dr. Heniford identified both preoperative and surgical factors associated with chronic postoperative pain.
To fight surgical infections, often caused by harried doctors forgetting to administer preoperative antibiotics, the hospital initiated a pre-op pause, like the one for pilots before a takeoff: Everyone stops for 30 seconds to make sure all safety steps have been taken.