Elective Holiday Surgery: Who Does That? (Research, Video 2:59)

Would you choose to have surgery during the holidays? Do you think most people would? It’s a common belief among hospital staff that patients would prefer being at home during the holidays and not getting surgery at a medical facility. Staff members even reduce the surgery times because they think there will be a lack of interest. After all, the holidays are supposed to be all about love and good times, not having operations. Right? Actually, there is little evidence to prove that is the case.

Let’s look at the research on elective surgery during the holidays and see what  310 patients attending surgical or urological outpatients had to say. They were given a self-completion questionnaire asking them whether they would accept admission over Christmas and Easter holidays if they had a choice. Overall 77 per cent of males and 76 per cent of females would accept admission over the Christmas holidays for elective surgery. This rises to 87 per cent and 88 per cent over the Easter holidays.

Who are these people who would choose surgery during the holidays? They are older patients, widows or widowers, retired patients, and patients with severe symptoms and conditions. Contrary to the perceived opinions of hospital staff members, these patients said they would accept admission for elective surgery over the Christmas or Easter holiday periods.

A common surgery for older adults is knee replacement. In this video, orthopedic surgeon Dr. Marc E. Rankin uses a model of a leg bone and a thigh bone to demonstrate how knee replacement surgery is done:

Frances Shani Parker, Author

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