Outcomes are Worse in US Patients Undergoing Surgery on Weekends Compared With Weekdays [1]
This is a very interesting study. The authors tried to find if the weekend effect would affect the outcomes of both elective surgery and urgent surgery (cardiac and non-cardiac surgery). This retrospective study enrolled more than 300K patients undergoing surgery including CABG. The authors compared the in-hospital mortality and major complications for weekday versus weekend surgery using multivariable logistic regression analysis. Results showed that weekend elective and urgent surgery were associated with higher risk of death and major complications compared to the week day surgery (p<0.001).
Can we suggest surgeons avoid the elective (non-emergency) cardiac surgery on weekends based on this study?