Safe on Saturday: Elective abdominal and perineal surgeries can be performed on Saturday without increased risk of poor post-operative outcome

Abstract

The "weekend effect," whereby surgeries performed during weekend haven been associated with poorer postoperative outcomes. We explored whether Saturday elective procedures at our hospital were associated with poorer post-operative outcomes when compared with weekday surgeries. A retrospective cohort study of patients undergoing elective surgery on the abdomen or perineum from 2008 to 2015 was performed. Procedures were classified by day (Group 1: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday; Group 2: Saturday). Multivariate regression analyses were performed to determine group differences in procedure duration, length-of-stay (LOS) and complications. In adjusted analyses, there were no statistically significant differences between Group 1 (n = 816) and Group 2 (n = 269) procedures in terms of procedure duration (Group 2 - Group 1 = 13.6 min, p = .19), LOS (Group 2 - Group 1 = 1.9 days, p = .14) and complications (OR 0.58, p = .46). Saturday elective procedures were not associated with poorer outcomes.