Study: Efficiency, safety of overlapping surgery

Editor's Note

In this study to evaluate the efficiency and safety of overlapping surgery at the University of Alabama, Birmingham, researchers found that the practice does not expose patients to increased risk of negative outcomes.

Of 26,260 cases analyzed for surgical time and 15,106 for outcomes, overlapping surgery patients had:

• an average case length of 2.18 hours compared with 1.64 hours for non-overlapping surgery patients
• a decreased risk of mortality
• a decreased risk of readmission
• a decreased risk of experiencing any of seven patient safety indicators.

This study confirms prior studies and highlights the need for additional investigations, the authors say.

OS is the practice of an attending physician providing supervision to 2 surgeries that are scheduled at overlapping times. Recent media and government attention have raised concerns about this practice and the need for informed patient consent. Methods: A population-based, retrospective, cohort study was conducted using data on operative procedures from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2015 at a large tertiary academic center.

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