Johns Hopkins research has suggested that time of day has no affect on patient survival for heart and lung transplants, according to a Johns Hopkins Medicine news release.
Heart and lung transplants are performed whenever the organs become available — there is no regard for the time or how much work a surgeon has done that day. While the researchers said they do not advocate surgeon fatigue, the findings suggest that, in this specialty, surgeons can cope with it and not subject the patient to risk.
The research covers heart and lung transplants at medical centers across the country from 2000-2010. After one year, the survival rate for heart transplants was 88 percent for daytime recipients and 87.7 percent for those who received a transplant at night. For lung transplants, 83.8 percent of patients who received the organ during the day survived compared to 82.6 percent who underwent surgery at night.
Researchers said the surprising findings prove it is worthy to evaluate each specialty on its own rather than extrapolating conclusions from other medical specialties.
Read the Johns Hopkins Medicine release on daytime and nighttime transplants.
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Heart and lung transplants are performed whenever the organs become available — there is no regard for the time or how much work a surgeon has done that day. While the researchers said they do not advocate surgeon fatigue, the findings suggest that, in this specialty, surgeons can cope with it and not subject the patient to risk.
The research covers heart and lung transplants at medical centers across the country from 2000-2010. After one year, the survival rate for heart transplants was 88 percent for daytime recipients and 87.7 percent for those who received a transplant at night. For lung transplants, 83.8 percent of patients who received the organ during the day survived compared to 82.6 percent who underwent surgery at night.
Researchers said the surprising findings prove it is worthy to evaluate each specialty on its own rather than extrapolating conclusions from other medical specialties.
Read the Johns Hopkins Medicine release on daytime and nighttime transplants.
Related Articles on Surgical Studies:
Study: Little Sleep May Not Affect Heart Surgeons' Performance
Study: Hospital Claims of Superior Robotic Surgery Not Always Backed by Evidence
Study: Checklists Most Effective When Surgical Staff Knows Why, How They Are Used