Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 15, 2026

Translational Brain Mapping at the University of Rochester Medical Center: Preserving the Mind Through Personalized Brain Mapping
Published on: August 12, 2019
Outcomes With Overlapping Surgery at a Large Academic Medical Center
Brent A Ponce1, Bradley W Wills1, Parke W Hudson1
1Department of Orthopaedics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL.
Objective:
The aim of the study was to evaluate the efficiency and safety of overlapping surgery (OS) at a training institution by comparing it with nonoverlapping surgery (NO) with respect to operative time, mortality, readmissions, and complications.
Background:
OS is the practice of an attending physician providing supervision to 2 surgeries that are scheduled at overlapping times. Recent media and government attention have raised concerns about this practice and the need for informed patient consent.
Methods:
A population-based, retrospective, cohort study was conducted using data on operative procedures from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2015 at a large tertiary academic center. Patients who had undergone surgery by attending surgeons who performed ≥10% of their cases overlapping were selected. Thirty-day mortality, readmission within 30 days, and 7 patient safety indicators (PSIs) were recorded.
Results:
A total of 26,260 cases met our criteria for analysis for surgical time and 15,106 cases for outcomes. OS patients had an average case length of 2.18 hours compared with 1.64 hours among NO patients (P < 0.0001), a decreased risk of mortality [relative risk (RR) 0.42, 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.34-0.52, P < 0.0001), a decreased risk of readmission (RR 0.92, 95% CI, 0.86-0.98, P = 0.0148), and a decreased risk of experiencing any PSI (RR 0.67, 95% CI, 0.55-0.83, P = 0.0002).
Conclusions:
The present study confirms prior reports and addresses gaps in the literature regarding OS, such as the effect of resident involvement and the individual effect of OS in 13 different surgical specialties. The findings highlight the need for additional investigation and suggest that the practice of OS does not expose patients to increased risk of negative outcomes.
Related Concept Videos
¹H NMR: Interpreting Distorted and Overlapping Signals
As Δν decreases and the signals move closer, the doublets appear increasingly distorted. The intensities of the inner lines increase at the cost of those of the outer lines as the signals are...
Lattice Centering and Coordination Number
Types of Unit Cells
Imagine taking a large number of identical...
Predicting Reaction Outcomes
Center of Gravity
Center of Gravity
To determine its location, the principle of moments can be utilized by dividing the object into...
Outcomes of Glycolysis
Cellular respiration can occur aerobically (with oxygen) or anaerobically (without oxygen). In the presence of oxygen, cellular respiration starts with glycolysis and continues with pyruvate...

