Patient mortality after surgery on the surgeon’s birthday: observational study

Abstract

Objective To determine whether patient mortality after surgery differs between surgeries performed on surgeons’ birthdays compared with other days of the year. Design Retrospective observational study. Setting US acute care and critical access hospitals. Participants 100% fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 to 99 years who underwent one of 17 common emergency surgical procedures in 2011-14. Main outcome measures Patient postoperative 30 day mortality, defined as death within 30 days after surgery, with adjustment for patient characteristics and surgeon fixed effects. Results 980 876 procedures performed by 47 489 surgeons were analyzed. 2064 (0.2%) of the procedures were performed on surgeons’ birthdays. Patient characteristics, including severity of illness, were similar between patients who underwent surgery on a surgeon’s birthday and those who underwent surgery on other days. The overall unadjusted 30 day mortality on the operating surgeon’s birthday was 7.0% (145/2064) and that on other days was 5.6% (54 824/978 812). After adjusting for patient characteristics and surgeon fixed effects (effectively comparing outcomes of patients treated by the same surgeon on different days), patients who underwent surgery on a surgeon’s birthday exhibited higher mortality compared with patients who underwent surgery on other days (adjusted mortality rate, 6.9% v 5.6%; adjusted difference 1.3%, 95% confidence interval 0.1% to 2.5%; P=0.03). Event study analysis of patient mortality by day of surgery relative to a surgeon’s birthday found similar results. Conclusions Among Medicare beneficiaries who underwent common emergency surgeries, those who received surgery on the surgeon’s birthday experienced higher mortality compared with patients who underwent surgery on other days. These findings suggest that surgeons might be distracted by life events that are not directly related to work.

Magnitude of post-operative mortality and associated factors among patients who underwent surgery in Wolaita Sodo teaching and referral hospital, SNNPR region, Ethiopia

“…However, it was significantly lower than the rate shown by studies conducted in Nigeria (8.3%) and United states (7.0%), 17 , 18 . This might be due to variations in study duration, socio-demographic characteristics of participants and urbanisation levels of the study area.…”

Association between preoperative platelet and 30-day postoperative mortality of adult patients undergoing craniotomy for brain tumors: data from the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database

“…Patient postoperative 30-day mortality (also called 30-day postoperative mortality), a meaningful indicator of perioperative outcome, is defined as death within 30 days after surgery. It is not only the adjustment for patient characteristics and surgeon fixed effects, but also an effective evaluation of access to safety of the anesthesia and operation [1,2]. Previous studies reported that 30-day postoperative mortality varied from 0.95 to 8.62% [1,3].…”

Full Moons and Forking Paths

“…The Super Bowl stock market predictor is nonsensical and has not worked since it was first reported, but worked initially P rovocative research findings are often widely publicised. It has been reported, for example, that the stock market usually goes up if certain teams win the Super Bowl; 1 femalenamed hurricanes are deadlier than those with male names; 2,3 Asian-Americans are prone to heart attacks on the fourth day of the month; 4,5 surgeries are more likely to be fatal if they are done on the surgeon's birthday; 6,7 and traffic accidents surge on Friday the 13th. 8 The claim that fatal motorcycle accidents are more likely when there is a full moon is a compelling example of what Gelman and Loken call a "garden of forking paths".…”

“…Provocative research findings are often widely publicised. It has been reported, for example, that the stock market usually goes up if certain teams win the Super Bowl; 1 female‐named hurricanes are deadlier than those with male names; 2,3 Asian‐Americans are prone to heart attacks on the fourth day of the month; 4,5 surgeries are more likely to be fatal if they are done on the surgeon's birthday; 6,7 and traffic accidents surge on Friday the 13th 8 …”