ArticleWorld journal of surgery2011
Popular belief meets surgical reality: impact of lunar phases, Friday the 13th and zodiac signs on emergency operations and intraoperative blood loss.
Article in World journal of surgery, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Abdominal binders after laparotomy: review of the literature and French survey of policies.Hernia : the journal of hernias and abdominal wall surgery · 2014Pooled it
- "Shh-don't say the Q-word" or do you?The British journal of oral & maxillofacial surgery · 2021Trial
- Trial
- Elective arthroplasty on "high-risk" calendar dates: no evidence for worse outcomes in 43,000 procedures.Archives of orthopaedic and trauma surgery · 2026Article
- What Do Patients Know About Anesthesia and Anesthesiologists?Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- The impact of atmospheric, lunar and superstitious factors on the cause of spontaneous pneumothorax.Pakistan journal of medical sciences · 2025Article
- Superstition in arthroplasty: does a suspicious size or surgery date have a higher revision rate? A Dutch arthroplasty register study.Acta orthopaedica · 2025Article
- Exploring the influence of moon phases and weather on mortality in a palliative care unit over a ten year period.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- No influence of moon phases on emergency trauma admission.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2025Article
- Superstition in Surgery: A Population-Based Cohort Study to Assess the Association Between Surgery on Friday the 13th and Postoperative Outcomes.Annals of surgery open : perspectives of surgical history, education, and clinical approaches · 2024Article
- Moon and Health: Myth or Reality?Cureus · 2023Review
- The influence of quotations uttered in emergency service triage traffic and hospitalization (Quiet).Open veterinary journal · 2019Article
- The Influence of Lunar Phases on Complications in Cataract Surgery: An Analysis of 16,965 Patients.Journal of ophthalmology · 2017Article
- A dental myth bites the dust--no observable relation between the incidence of dental abscess and the weather and lunar phase: an ecological study.BMC oral health · 2015Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe influence of superstition, moon calendars, and popular belief on evidence-based medicine is stunning. More than 40% of medical staff is convinced that lunar phases can affect human behavior. The idea that Friday the 13th is associated with adverse events and bad luck is deep-rooted in the population of Western industrial countries. The aim of the present study was to test the hypothesis that these myths are transferable to real-life surgery.
methodsWe analyzed the extent to which moon phases, zodiac signs, and Friday the 13th influence blood loss, emergency frequency, and intestinal perforations by evaluating the operation records of all 27,914 consecutive patients of our institution undergoing general, visceral, or vascular surgery between August 2001 and August 2010. Dates of surgery were allocated to lunar phases and to zodiac signs, as well as to Friday the 13th.
resultsA total of 111 lunar cycles and 15 Fridays the 13th occurred within the 3,281-day observation period. Patients' characteristics did not differ in lunar phases, zodiac signs, or Fridays the 13th. Full moon phases, the presence of Friday the 13th, and zodiac signs influenced neither intraoperative blood loss nor emergency frequency. No statistical peaks regarding perforated aortic aneurysms and gastrointestinal perforations were found on full moon or Friday the 13th.
conclusionsScientific analysis of our data does not support the belief that moon phases, zodiac signs, or Friday 13th influence surgical blood loss and emergency frequency. Our data indicate that such beliefs are myths far beyond reality.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.