What’s up, doc? Operations are more likely to go wrong if the surgeon is celebrating a birthday, study suggests
- Surgery more likely to go wrong if doctor is celebrating a birthday, study says
- Distractions from dinner plans to messages could make them more error prone
- Study found the death rate for elderly patients who did not have surgery on their doctor’s birthday was 5.6 per cent, while it was 6.9 per cent for those who did
Next time you’re wheeled into an operating theatre and notice balloons and bunting, it may be worth asking for a cancellation.
Surgery is more likely to go wrong if the doctor holding the knife is celebrating a birthday, a study suggests.
Distractions from dinner plans to congratulatory messages could be making them more error prone, researchers found.
Previous studies have found that noise, equipment problems and personal conversations can undermine a surgeon’s performance.
Surgery is more likely to go wrong if the doctor holding the knife is celebrating a birthday, a new study suggests (stock image)
But the latest research, published in the British Medical Journal, is the first to provide evidence that surgeons can be distracted on their birthdays.
Experts looked at nearly a million surgical procedures on patients in America, of which more than 2,000 were performed by a surgeon on their birthday.
They found that the death rate for elderly patients who did not have surgery on their doctor’s birthday was 5.6 per cent, while it was 6.9 per cent for those who did.
Deaths were counted if they were within 30 days of an operation.
Dr Yusuke Tsugawa at the University of California, Los Angeles, who conducted the study, said: ‘Surgeons could be under relatively higher time pressure – feeling rushed to complete procedures on time – on their birthday because they might have important evening plans.’
Study found the death rate for elderly patients who did not have surgery on their doctor’s birthday was 5.6 per cent, while it was 6.9 per cent for those who did (stock image)
However, he said the study could not be sure that the deaths were linked to birthdays as cause of death was not studied. He also noted lack of ‘detailed information on events that are potentially distracting’.
He added: ‘Birthday conversations with team members during surgical procedures could be distracting, leading to medical errors.
‘Surgeons may receive birthday messages on their phones in the operating room, which can be a potential source of distraction.
‘It is possible that surgeons might allow surgical trainees to do more on the surgeon’s birthday in order to get home early for a celebration or other birthday related reasons, leading to poorer outcomes.’
The researchers analysed data on elderly patients who died within 30 days of undergoing surgery at hospitals in the United States between 2011 and 2014.
The figures were then cross-referenced with information on surgeon birthdays.