Findings from a study published online in the journal Annals of Surgery suggest that overlapping surgery may be safe, at least in concept. The researchers reviewed data on 10,765 overlapping surgical cases, of which 10,614 (98.6 percent) were matched to 16,111 non-overlapping procedures at a single center. 

They found that 30-day mortality, morbidity, and length of stay were not statistically different across cohorts, and that adjusted risk for inpatient mortality was greater for non-overlapping surgery compared to overlapping surgery. However, the researchers write that the findings "support the safety of overlapping surgical procedures at this center but may not extrapolate to other centers." Learn more...