Overlapping surgeries can carry significant risks that can be catastrophic.
Overlapping surgeries can be catastrophic
In the busy world of hospitals, where doctors work hard to help as many people as possible, there’s a practice known as overlapping surgeries. This is when a surgeon schedules parts of different operations at the same time. Although double-booked surgeries can make sense from a scheduling standpoint, they can also lead to serious problems if not managed correctly.
Overlapping surgeries defined
Overlapping surgeries occur when a surgeon starts a new surgery while another is still going on. For instance, while a surgeon is finishing up one operation, another patient is being prepared for surgery in a different room. The main surgeon might be present for the critical parts of each surgery but not there for the entire process.
Tens of thousands of overlapping surgeries happen in the US each year. This practice is common in teaching hospitals where experienced surgeons teach younger doctors. The idea is to use time efficiently, allowing surgeons to handle more cases, especially during emergencies. However, this can be risky. Patients expect to have the full attention of their surgeon during an operation, not shared with someone else in another room.
Advantages of overlapping surgeries
There are some advantages to surgeons double-booking. For example, to maximize the use of top surgeons and operating rooms, increasing the number of patients that can have access to needed surgeries, and critical training for surgeons.
However, patient safety should always outweigh these advantages.
Overlapping surgeries can lead to various problems
- Reduced communication: When surgeons handle multiple operations, they might not communicate as effectively. Important details can be missed, leading to complications.
- Increased stress for medical staff: Juggling multiple surgeries can put a lot of pressure on the surgical team, which might affect their performance.
- Patient dissatisfaction: Patients might feel like they’re not getting the best possible care if they find out their surgery was overlapped with another.
Ghost surgery
One of the biggest concerns with overlapping surgeries is the concept of “ghost surgery.” This term refers to situations where the surgeon who was supposed to do the operation isn’t actually the one performing it. Instead, a less experienced surgeon or a trainee might take over, especially during the less critical parts of the surgery. The main surgeon might only come in for the most challenging parts.
Ghost surgeries can be problematic because patients often choose a hospital or a specific surgeon based on their skills and reputation. If someone else performs the operation without the patient’s knowledge, it can feel like a betrayal of trust. Moreover, if the substitute surgeon is less experienced, it could increase the risk of mistakes happening during the surgery.
Can you imagine waking up from surgery and finding out something went wrong, and that the surgeon you hired did not perform the entire operation? (USNews.com)
Research
Research shows that overlapping surgeries are generally safe. There are two exceptions:
- Patients that are high risk – “those with a relatively high predicted probability of complications from surgery, due to age and pre-existing conditions.”
- Those undergoing coronary artery bypass
These two categories of patients “experienced higher mortality and complication rates during overlapping surgeries.” (News.Harvard.edu) Minor surgical errors in these patients could cause infection, pneumonia, heart attack, or even death.
Each year, millions of Americans undergo surgery. When we are “under the knife”, we expect to have the surgeon’s full attention. Little do we know that our surgeon may be performing another operation at the same time.
It’s crucial for hospitals to have strict guidelines on how overlapping surgeries are conducted. Surgeons must take responsibility, avoiding overlapping surgeries altogether when there is a possibility that this practice could be unsafe. Also, patients should be informed if their surgery will overlap with another and who will be performing each part of the operation.
These situations must be handled with great care to ensure every patient receives the best and safest care possible.
“As with anything else in medicine, one size does not fit all.” (HMS.Harvard.edu)
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