[Correlation of Estimated and Factual Operation Time in Frequent Interventions in Traumatolgy]

The Surgical Safety Checklist (SSC) was introduced by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2008 in order to analyse and reduce perioperative surgical morbidity. Preoperative estimation of the expected surgery time (EST) by the surgeon is an integral part of the SSC.

The aim of the present study was to correlate EST and factual surgery time (FST), to identify factors influencing the correlation between the two parameters and to collect more information about planning surgical capacity.

A retrospective analysis researched the EST and FST for plate osteosynthesis in distal radius fractures, intramedullary femur nailing or the implantation of duo head prosthesis in proximal femur fractures in our department between 06/2012 and 12/2013.

220 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria and underwent further analysis (palmar plate osteosynthesis: n = 89, intramedullary femur nailing with joint involvement: n = 70, duo head prothesis: n = 61). Mean EST and FST exhibited no significant difference in any of the analysed surgical procedures. However, the correlation coefficients were comparatively low for individual surgical procedures (ρ = 0.60). The surgeon's experience had no influence on the correlation between EST and FST.

In this study, the FST for palmar plate osteosynthesis, proximal intramedullary femur nailing and implantation of duo head prosthesis agreed well with the national average. Unexpected intraoperative complications may cause above average FST. In this case, the surgical team and coordinator must identify rapid individual solutions.