[Why is surgery cancelled? causes, implications, and bibliographic antecedents]
Juan Francisco Aguirre-Córdova1, Guadalupe Chávez-Vázquez, Gustavo Alfonso Huitrón-Aguilar
1Servicio de Cirugía General del Hospital General Dr. Darío Fernández Fierro, ISSSTE, Valle de México.
Insights
Scheduled surgical cancellations occurred at a 23.79% rate, primarily due to patient-related issues, hospital deficiencies, and medical team factors. Implementing presurgical clinics can reduce these cancellations.
Area of Science:
- Healthcare Management
- Surgical Operations
- Patient Safety
Background:
- Scheduled surgical procedures are critical for patient outcomes.
- Cancellation of surgeries leads to resource wastage and patient dissatisfaction.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the causes of scheduled surgical procedure cancellations.
- To review existing literature on surgical cancellations.
Main Methods:
- A retrospective review of 1 year of scheduled surgical records was conducted.
- Identified cancellation frequency and categorized causes into hospital, medical team, and patient factors.
Main Results:
- A total of 3,627 procedures were reviewed, with 863 (23.79%) cancellations.
- The majority of cancellations occurred in the last 4 months of the year.
- Top specialties with cancellations: Orthopedics (26.6%), General Surgery (22.13%), Gynecology (17.84%), and Ophthalmology (10.06%).
- Cancellation causes: patient-related (40%), hospital sources (30%), and medical team deficiencies (29.8%).
Conclusions:
- The overall cancellation rate was 23.79%, peaking in the final four months.
- Patient-related factors were the leading cause of cancellations.
- Hospital deficiencies and medical team issues were the secondary causes.
- Implementing situational diagnoses and presurgical assessment clinics can mitigate cancellation rates.
Objective:
To identify the causes of cancellation of scheduled surgical procedures at a General Hospital and review of the literature.
Proceedings:
The record of scheduled surgery was reviewed at 1 year. We identified frequency of cancellation and the three main sources including hospital, medical team, and patient.
Results:
Scheduled surgery record registered 3,627 surgical procedures; 863 were cancelled. The last 4 months of the year registered the majority of cases. Nearly 60% of suspensions were in Orthopedics (26.6%), General Surgery (22.13%), Gynecology (17.84%), and Ophthalmology (10.06%). Forty percent of total cancelled surgery was related with patient causes, 30% to hospital sources, and 29.8% to deficiencies of the medical team.
Conclusion:
Rate of scheduled surgery cancellation was 23.79%. It was most important during the last 4 months of the year. Orthopedics, General Surgery, Gynecology, and Ophthalmology were the main specialties involved. Sources of cancellation were identified as patient causes, in first place; hospital deficiencies and medical team reasons shared the second place. Situational diagnosis of each hospital and a presurgical assessment clinic reduce rate of cancelled surgical procedures.
