by Aimee Keenan-Greene

Does when you get to the ER make a difference in whether or not you survive a life threatening trauma?  

A new retrospective cohort study of the Pennsylvania trauma system in the Archive of Surgery looks at the differences between weekday and weekend visits. 

The results, patients presenting on weekends were less likely to die than patients presenting on weekdays (odds ratio = 0.89; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.81-0.97). 

A total of 90,461 patients over 5 years seen at a level I, II, or III trauma center and evaluated for in-hospital mortality, time to procedures, and length of stay. 

Patients presenting on weeknights were no more likely to die than patients presenting during weekdays.

Patients who showed up weeknights had longer intensive care unit stay (incidence rate ratio = 1.06; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.02-1.10),  and longer hospital stay (incidence rate ratio = 1.02; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.00-1.04). 

Presenting on weekends was associated with longer intensive care unit stay (incidence rate ratio = 1.04; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.02-1.10) but not longer hospital stay. 

"We expected to see no difference between weekdays and weekends," Dr. Brendan Carr, the lead author of the study and professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine told Reuters Health,  "The hospital is fundamentally different at off-hours. The operating room is empty. The blood bank is not distracted by other activities, for instance, which could free up hospital resources on the weekend and possibly explain the difference."