Pennsylvania residents worried about suffering a surgical error won't be pleased with the results of a study by the Harvard Combined Orthopedic Residency Program in Boston. According to a story by Fox News, the study found that surgeons in training are still suffering from a lack of sleep. And that could make surgical errors more likely.

According to the study, orthopedic surgical residents at two Boston-area hospitals were only averaging five-and-a-half hours of sleep every night. Many of these surgeons in training were so tired during their waking hours that they were as impaired as if they were legally drunk during a quarter of their waking hours.

The good news is that a graduate medical education body recently imposed rules that limit the work hours of new surgeons. But the Fox News story suggests that these rules may not be enough to ensure the safety of patients who are treated by sometimes exhausted surgeons.

For the study, the Harvard Combined Orthopaedic Residency Program analyzed data from 27 orthopedic residents at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital. These residents maintained daily logs of their sleep and work hours for two weeks. They also wore a special wristwatch that recorded their movements to gauge their activity levels.

The study found that residents averaged 5.3 hours of sleep a day. That amount did vary, though. Some residents only averaged 2.8 hours of sleep while others enjoyed 7.8 hours of sleep.

In chilling news for patients, the study found that the residents were functioning at just 70 percent of mental effectiveness during 27 percent of the hours during which they were awake. The researchers determined that residents faced a 22 percent greater risk of causing medical errors than did well-rested physicians.

Source: Fox News, "Tired surgical residents may up error risk, study suggests," Reuters, May 22, 2012