Overlapping surgeries not linked to worse outcomes

Editor's Note

Contrary to claims that overlapping surgeries are dangerous or harmful to patients, they were not found to be associated with worse patient outcomes in this study presented April 25 at the 2017 American Association of Neurological Surgeons Annual Scientific Meeting in Los Angeles.

The analysis included 14,872 neurosurgical procedures performed at one institution from July 2013 to May 2016.

Univariate analysis showed a benefit for overlapping surgeries in terms of length of stay, return to OR, and disposition upon discharge. There were no differences in readmissions or mortality. Overlapping cases were significantly longer and staffed with more senior residents.

Multivariate analysis showed either no difference or a benefit for overlapping surgeries for all outcomes except length of procedure.

The results reject the hypothesis that overlapping surgeries are associated with worse patient outcomes, the authors say.

Winner of the Robert Florin Award, Michael Bohl, MD, presented his research, Overlapping Surgeries are not Associated with Worse Patient Outcomes: Retrospective Multivariate Analysis of 14,872 Neurosurgical Cases Performed at a Single Institution, during the 2017 American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) Annual Scientific Meeting.