When to Avoid Surgery

April 2, 2013 | Crandall & Pera Law
When to Avoid Surgery

A new study finds that emergency surgeries performed on a weekend may have poorer results than the same operation performed on a weekday.

Patients who were admitted on the weekend and received emergency surgery for ulcerative colitis were about 70 percent more likely to have complications than those admitted on weekdays, according to researchers who studied over 7,000 emergency surgeries for Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

Postoperative infections were 50 percent more likely in weekend ulcerative colitis patients, pulmonary complications were twice as common, and the risk for wound complications and repeat surgery was 10 times as high even though there were no reported differences between weekday and weekend admissions in age or gender, the presence of other illnesses, or in-hospital deaths between the two groups.

"This doesn't mean that if you're admitted on a weekend, you should fight surgery," said Dr. Ashwin N. Ananthakrishnan, an assistant professor of medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. "But the question is why this happens - it's apparently not because of patient factors. Is it infrastructure, provider experience? It's important to find out what causes these disparities." Read the full details here:

Weekends Worse for Surgery

In many cases of medical malpractice, wrongful death and surgical errors, timing is everything for the patient. It is good practice to avoid surgery on weekends, during holidays or in July when new residents populate a hospital as an increase of medical and medication errors often occur.

If you have been injured due to medical malpractice please call to investigate your matter fully. Crandall & Pera Law is available to help answer your questions and guide you in determining your next steps.