Posts Tagged ‘ Sleep ’

The Risk of Sleepy Surgeons

January 11th, 2011. By Hunter West

There was a study recently that demonstrated sleepy drivers were just as careless, just as accident-prone and just as dangerous as people who were driving drunk. Sleep deprivation, the researchers found, was just as much an impairment as being high on alcohol. 

So what about doctors? What about surgeons? 

An editorial that came out December 30^th in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) makes that same point for medical professionals. To wit, sleepy doctors are potentially as impaired as drunken doctors. 

It’s something, as patients, we never think about. But think about it—how many times have you been caught yawning on the job? How many times have you nodded off at the computer? How many times have you had to pull over while driving endless miles along a highway, in order to catch a bit of rest because you feel yourself nodding off? 

Should we not assume that surgeons are capable of the same sleepiness? 

The concern is certainly warranted, according to the authors of the NEJM editorial. And one can certainly understand the issue. As an example, a surgeon who has not slept all night following emergency bowel surgery throughout the wee hours is seen scrubbing up for an elective colostomy at nine the following morning. 

Pretty scary thought, huh? 

The editorial authors say that sleepy surgeons should not be allowed to operate without a patient’s Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: medical malpractice, NEJM, Sleep, Surgeon
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