Morning Sugery May Be Safest

August 4, 2006

-- TIME OF SURGERY INFLUENCES SIDE EFFECTS An analysis of more than 90,000 surgeries suggests that patients who undergo surgery late in the afternoon may be more likely to experience side effects from their anesthesia, such as nausea and vomiting or problems with pain management. Researchers from Duke University also found patients having late afternoon surgery experienced more "administrative delays," such as doctors running late and waiting for lab tests -- factors which could be linked to their higher rates of side effects. These results were published this week in the journal Quality and Safety in Health Care.

AIDS CAUSING WORKFORCE DRAIN IN AFRICA According to a new report in Lancet, AIDS deaths are depleting the ranks of health professions in some sub-Saharan African nations. Public health researchers from Boston University estimate that, over a decade, death would claim more nurses (37 percent) and clinical officers (68 percent) in Zambia than resignation (23 percent) or retirement (9 percent).

GET RADIATION, SET OFF AIRPORT ALARM? Patients receiving treatment with radioisotopes should be warned they may trigger airport radiation alarms, doctors say in this week's British Medical Journal. The problem is not a huge one -- they report on a single case of a man who set off an airport alarm six weeks after receiving radiation therapy, and a search of the literature turned up 4 more cases. But a related editorial states that doctors should advise patients who are receiving radioisotopes to avoid close contact with other people, not to try to conceive a child, and to carry a radiation certificate when flying.

STAT is a brief look at the latest medical research and is compiled by Joanna Schaffhausen, who holds a doctorate in behavioral neuroscience. She works in the ABC News Medical Unit, evaluating medical studies, abstracts and news releases.