What is the Best Time to Have Surgery According to New Duke Study?

[VickyRN, MSN, DNP, RN]

DURHAM, N.C. (8/3/2006) - Patients who undergo surgery late in the afternoon are more likely to experience unexpected adverse events related to their anesthesia than are patients whose operations begin in the morning, a new analysis by Duke University Medical Center researchers suggests...

For their analysis, the researchers drew on a database of all of the 90,159 surgeries performed at Duke Hospital over a four-year period beginning in 2000. Maintained by the Department of Anesthesiology, the database contains a record of each surgical patient's course of treatment, including any adverse events experienced, from hospital admission to discharge...

"We found that adverse events were most common for operations starting between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.," Wright said. "Furthermore, the predicted probability of an adverse event in the "other" category increased from a low of 1 percent at 9 a.m. to a high of 4.2 percent at 4 p.m."

http://www.dukemednews.org/news/article.php?id=9809

[sunnyjohn]

3pm-4pm? Shift change!

From my years in the OR I've learned on thing. If I ever have to have surgery I want the first slot of the day.

[IsseyM]

3pm-4pm? Shift change!

From my years in the OR I've learned on thing. If I ever have to have surgery I want the first slot of the day.

I 100% agree with you on that. I was supposed to have surgery at 730am and i overslept because i was studying for finals for nursing school. They ended up scheduling my surgery later on in the afternoon. My surgery resulted in nerve damage which i'm not sure will ever go away.

I always wonder had i not overslept and went to my scheduled appointment, just maybe i wouldn't of suffered as much as i did. It was the most traumatizing and painful experiences i ever went through yet. From now on AM surgeriesfor me!!!

[gwenith, BSN, RN]

Me?? I never want to be in a hospital at or around January or June because that is when we get our new rotations of residents:rolleyes:

[Owensaunt]

My opinion is that having surgery scheduled 9-10 ish is best. It gives fed ex time to deliver any supplies that were overnighted and any issues with first case are resolved. But always remember that NEW RESIDENTS start in July. So have surgery in the spring. By then the RN's have taught them some stuff.

[surginurse]

My opinion is that having surgery scheduled 9-10 ish is best. It gives fed ex time to deliver any supplies that were overnighted and any issues with first case are resolved. But always remember that NEW RESIDENTS start in July. So have surgery in the spring. By then the RN's have taught them some stuff.

Oh how true... I taught an ACLS class to a bunch of new residents the last week of June. 2 weeks later, I had a spleenectomy, and guess who comes to my room for rounds? I asked for the chief surgical resident (whom I knew from the OR), and told him I didn't mind them doing "rounds" but no-one but him was allowed to touch me!!!