Overlapping otolaryngologic surgery: Safety and efficacy

Surgical procedures scheduled staggered between two operating rooms increase efficiency by eliminating turnover time. However, the practice might increase the surgeon's fatigue. Overlapping surgery has been assumed to be safe because no critical portions of procedures are performed simultaneously in two rooms, but there is little evidence in the literature to support that assumption for otolaryngologic surgery, and there is no evidence comparing non-overlapping and overlapping surgical outcomes for a single surgeon with all confounding factors controlled.

Retrospective cohort study that included a consecutive sample of adult subjects who underwent otolaryngologic laryngeal or otologic surgery between June 2013 and March 2016. All procedures were performed by the same surgical team and surgeon who had block time with 2-rooms every other week and 1-room on alternate weeks. The incidence of surgical complications was assessed in the perioperative period. Duration of surgery and time-in-room also were evaluated, as were surgical outcomes.

A total of 496 surgeries were assigned to either overlapping-surgery (n = 346) or non-overlapping-surgery (n = 150) cohorts. Overlapping-surgery was a significant predictor for increased time-in-room on multivariate analysis but was not a significant predictor for surgery duration. Rate of complications, hospital readmission, emergency department visit, reoperation, mortality, and patient satisfaction did not differ significantly between cohorts.

Overlapping surgery does not hinder patient safety or functional outcomes in patients undergoing otolaryngologic operations such as voice or ear surgery.