Author/Authors :
Parsaei, Reza Department of Surgery - Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran , Elyasinia, Fezzeh Department of Surgery - Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran , Aboutorabi, Armita Kaviani Breast Disease Institute, Tehran , Saberi, Fatemeh Kaviani Breast Disease Institute, Tehran
Abstract :
Background: There is a hypothesis that the time of day can affect the outcome
of medical procedures and surgical operations. The current study was designed to
assess whether time of day can influence the quality of breast cancer surgery or not.
Methods: Patients who underwent breast cancer surgery and axillary lymph
node dissection in Tehran, Iran between March 2012 and March 2013 were
enrolled. Surgeries were categorized into two groups based on the time of initiation
(before and after 1 pm).We considered the number of dissected lymph node as an
indicator of operation quality. In this way, dissection of at least six lymph nodes
was considered as an adequate number of lymph node examinations.
Results:Atotal of 134 patients were enrolled. Median start time of surgery was
11 am. Surgeries were performed before and after 1 pm in 105 (78.4%) and
29(21.6%) patients, respectively. The association between time and the number of
dissected lymph nodes was significant when they were considered either as a
categorical (P= 0.002) or continuous variables (P= 0.039).
Conclusions: Based on our results, it can be suggested that breast surgeries
with later start time might have lower quality.
Keywords :
Quality , time of day , breast surgery , axillary dissection
