Surgery out of office hours for type A aortic dissection: does night-time and weekend surgery worsen outcome?

Immediate surgical repair for type A aortic dissection is gold standard and at most centres is performed by the surgeon on call during night-time and weekends. The objective was to evaluate whether emergency surgery during night-time or weekends has an influence on 30-day mortality.

In 319 patients undergoing surgery for type A aortic dissection, skin incision was documented. Patients were divided into 2 groups according to the time point of skin incision (05:00 a.m. to 07:00 p.m. = daytime group; 07:01 p.m. to 04:59 a.m. = night-time group). We also noted whether their surgeries were started on weekdays (Monday 00:00 to Friday 23:59) or weekends (Saturday 00:00 to Sunday 23:59).

The median age was 61 years (interquartile range 49-70) and 69.6% (n = 222) were male. Almost 50% (n = 149) of patients presented in a critical preoperative state. Forty-one percent of patients (n = 131) underwent night-time surgery. There were no differences in baseline data, time from onset of symptoms to surgery or surgical treatment between groups, except from preferred femoral access for arterial cannulation during night-time. Advanced age [odds ratio 1.042, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.014-1.070], preoperative malperfusion syndrome (odds ratio 2.542, 95% CI 1.279-5.051) and preoperative tamponade (odds ratio 2.562, 95% CI 1.215-5.404) emerged as risk factors for 30-day mortality. Night-time or weekend surgery did not have any impact on 30-day mortality when covariates were considered.

Based on the natural course of the disease and our results, surgery for type A aortic dissection should be performed as an emergency surgery regardless of time and day.