A study suggests patients whose emergency surgeries are delayed due to a lack of operating room resources have an increased risk of death or a need for extra recovery time in hospital.
Ottawa Hospital researchers found patients who delayed surgery for serious injuries or life-threatening conditions had an almost five per cent risk of dying compared to a 3.2 per cent risk for
those whose surgeries weren't delayed.
They found on average that delayed-surgery patients stayed in hospital after their operation 1.1 days longer and cost the hospital 14-hundred dollars more than patients who didn't have to wait.
Study author Dr. Alan Forster says the findings provide strong evidence that the sooner emergency surgery is done the better.
He says the most common causes for delay were that operating rooms were already in use or medical staff were not available.
Researchers examined data involving 15-thousand patients between 2012 and 2014.
The study is in the latest edition of Canadian Medical Association Journal.