Operating out of hours in acute orthopaedics: variations amongst surgeons and regions in the United Kingdom.

It is recommended that out of hours, surgery should be confined to emergency cases. What constitutes an emergency in orthopaedic surgery is not well defined. This study presents the results of a postal survey sent to orthopaedic surgeons practicing in the United Kingdom, asking them what is the time frame they would recommend operating upon, and whether they would operate out of hours for common acute orthopaedic presentations. Our results demonstrate variability both amongst individual surgeons as well as amongst different regions in the United Kingdom.