A meta-analysis of 48 studies and nearly 2 million hospitalizations for acute myocardial infarction has concluded that, during the weekends, waiting time for the start of angioplasty is on average of minutes longer, while mortality at 30 days is also, on average, 6% higher, a deviation that can reach 12% if high ST segment infarctions, which are susceptible to angioplasty, are also taken into account. A North American study of nearly one million hospitalizations for acute renal failure found that patients admitted on weekends had, on average, a probability of dying 7% higher, and in another study, also with extensive databases, on scheduled surgery in English hospitals, concluded that patients operated on Friday had a 44% higher probability of dying, a figure that rose to 82% if the intervention was performed on Saturday or Sunday (see an earlier post on the subject in this same blog). The three studies cited are just a sample of the harsh reality of the phenomenon. Just perform quick search on the scientific search engines to extract, for example, three more studies that go along the same lines (Bell 2001, Freemantle 2012, Perez Concha 2014). I have even found a study that has observed a higher mortality in urgent paediatric surgery (Goldstein 2014).
