Weekend effect in emergency laparotomy: a propensity score‐matched analysis.

Background: The 'weekend effect' is the term given to the observed discrepancy regarding patient care and outcomes on weekends compared to weekdays. This study aimed to determine whether the weekend effect exists within Aotearoa New Zealand (AoNZ) for patients undergoing emergency laparotomy (EL), given recent advances in management of EL patients. Methods: A cohort study was conducted across five hospitals, comparing the outcomes of weekend and weekday acute EL. A propensity‐score matched analysis was used to remove potential confounding patient characteristics. Results: Of the 487 patients included, 132 received EL over the weekend. There was no statistically significant difference between patients undergoing EL over the weekend compared to weekdays. Mortality rates were comparable between the weekday and weekend cohorts (P = 0.464). Conclusions: These results suggest that modern perioperative care practice in New Zealand obviates the 'weekend' effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]