Tired surgical residents may up error risk

Researchers found that orthopedic surgical residents at two Boston-area hospitals were averaging five and a half hours of sleep a night, and so fatigued during waking hours that a quarter of the time their "impairment" was equivalent to being legally drunk. Knowing when surgical residents are most likely to be dangerously tired, researchers explain in the Archives of Surgery, may help to target interventions that could prevent medical mistakes.