Allowing overlapping surgery for urgent neuro cases decreases length of stay

Editor's Note

A change of policy to allow the practice of overlapping surgery for urgent neurosurgical procedures in a tertiary care, safety-net hospital significantly reduced length of stay, in this study presented May 1 at the American Association of Neurological Surgeons in New Orleans.
Of 452 cases analyzed (201 in period one before overlapping surgery was allowed, 251 in period two A overlapping surgery was allowed), there were 122 cases classified as urgent (59 in period one, 63 in period two).
Length of stay was significantly decreased in period two (13.09 days vs 19.52 days), and time from admission to surgery was shorter (5.12 vs 7.00). Wait time was significantly associated with length of stay.