Outcomes of emergency appendectomies and cholecystectomies performed at weekends

To determine the impact of hospital admissions and operations at weekends on two common emergency general surgeries (cholecystectomy and appendectomy) and their outcomes.

A total of 539 patients were included in the study. Information on patient demographics, comorbidities, admission date, surgery date, complications, readmission, and follow-up details were collected from electronic medical records.

Most patients were admitted to hospital on weekdays (n = 391), and 444 surgeries were performed on weekdays, while 86 surgeries were performed at weekends. No significant difference was found between the type of surgery performed on weekday and weekend admissions (P = 0.384). Surgical procedures of patients admitted to hospital on a weekend tended to be delayed by a median of one day compared with weekday admissions, with a similar overall length of stay for both groups. Weekend admissions were associated with higher complication rates than weekday admissions (12.2 vs. 6.1%). Patients who were operated on at weekends were younger in age than those admitted on weekdays (32 vs. 30 years old, P = 0.019). More appendectomies were performed at weekends (77.9% vs. 45.9%), and fewer cholecystectomies were performed (22.1 vs. 54.1%, P = 0.000).

The surgical procedures of patients admitted to hospital on weekends tended to be delayed by 1 day and had a higher rate of complications. Appendectomy was the most common performed weekend surgery.