Destroying myths.

Palliative care emergencies such as spinal cord compression require prompt diagnosis and treatment to get the best results. Hospitals dealing with these emergencies need to develop pathways of care for these patients based on best evidence derived from hard data. The authors looked at all spinal cord compressions that presented to their hospital over a 10-year period. The authors found that the commonest day of presentation of this condition was on Mondays and not Fridays as had been widely believed prior to this study. Hospitals are encouraged to look at hard data and not anecdotes when developing pathways of care for their patients.