Is it true that having surgery earlier in the day is safer?

Is it true that having surgery earlier in the day is safer?

This is only true for certain patients, in particular, diabetics. Diabetics are always done early in the day because their blood sugar will wax and wane, and hypoglycaemia or hyperglycaemia are dangerous for the diabetic patient. The other class of patient you like to do earlier in the day are the paediatric patients because they are not eating or drinking, and you don't want them to get dehydrated because it creates a fever in the small child. That being said, if you're having your surgery very late in the day, there is a chance that the anaesthesiologist will be tired and less vigilant, or the surgeon will be tired and less facile. As you probably know, Congress has passed a law limiting the hours of interns and residents in recent years, because of just such incidents of fatigue causing mistakes, so the hours of interns and residents are now limited. Congress has had some laws that they attempted to pass for anaesthesiologists, the same laws that pilots abide by whereby their hours would be limited. Remember, vigilance is the Gold Standard for anaesthesia.