Why Surgeries on Fridays Are Riskier

If you have the chance to plan your next surgery, you might want to avoid Fridays. A study out this week shows that surgeries scheduled right before the weekend tend to be riskier than those done earlier in the week. Researchers in the U.S. and Canada conducted the study, published Tuesday in JAMA Network Open. Analyzing data from nearly a half million people, they found that pre-weekend surgeries had a slightly greater risk of death, complications, and readmissions compared to post-weekend surgeries. The findings suggest that hospitals can do more to keep their patients safe, such as making sure there’s sufficient staffing throughout the weekend, the researchers say. This isn’t the first time that the study authors have looked into how the calendar might affect surgery. Last year, the team published a study examining whether surgeries performed on Friday the 13th fared worse than other typical Fridays. Thankfully, for the superstitious crowd out there, the answer appeared to be no. ... Read full article.