Safety of overlapping surgery at a high-volume referral center.

Overlapping surgery refers to when two procedures are performed concurrently, but important portions occur at different times. Experts have raised concerns about the safety of scheduling coincident procedures. This study compared overlapping surgeries with nonoverlapping surgeries of the same type at a single referral center. After adjusting for surgeon and patient characteristics, investigators found no differences in inpatient mortality or length of stay. They performed an analogous analysis in the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program registry medical record data, which resulted in similar findings. Although these results should allay concerns about concurrent surgeries, the authors caution that further studies at multiple centers are needed to ensure that overlapping procedure practices do not carry excess risk to patients.