There’s only one type of surgery you DO want — morning surgery

Nobody wants surgery. But if surgery is required, there’s one type of surgery you DO want…

Morning surgery.

A Duke University study uncovered troubling statistics about afternoon surgeries. Rates of patient nausea, vomiting, and postoperative pain were higher in procedures that began between 3:00 and 4:00 PM.

In a CNN article about the study, Dr. Anthony Youn speculates on what’s behind those results. He says it might be due to shift changes. Surgeon fatigue could play a role.

Whatever the cause, the bottom line is the same. If you get a choice of starting times, choose early. The earlier the better.

A couple of years ago I told you about a similar study. In that one, researchers tracked colonoscopy results. On average, doctors found more polyps in the morning than the afternoon.

That’s a drop-off that could impact your health in a huge way if a missed polyp happens to be malignant.

Beyond better surgical work and less pain, there’s one more key reason to choose morning surgery. Hunger.

Nearly all surgeries require several hours of pre-surgery fasting. So if you schedule an afternoon procedure, you’ll have a long, hungry start to your day.

The only thing worse than sub-par surgery, is sub-par surgery with hunger pains.

Sources:
“Why you should avoid afternoon surgery” Dr. Anthony Youn, CNN, 11/27/12, cnn.com