Identifying and Mitigating Risk Factors for Last Minute Otolaryngology Surgical Cancelations

The primary objective is to identify patient-based risk factors influencing otolaryngologic surgical no-shows. Secondarily we compare surgical no-show rates of patients undergoing otolaryngology surgery in the pre-COVID-19 pandemic versus the post-COVID-19 pandemic.

Retrospective chart review performed on all patients with surgical appointments at Ochsner-LSU Health with any Otolaryngology physician over a 3-months pre- and post-pandemic. Participants were separated as having the surgical procedure completed, canceled greater than 48 hours before the procedure, or a cancelation within 48 hours of the procedure. Distance from the hospital, procedure type, diagnosis related to surgery, cancelation reasons, subspecialty clinic, date of clinic appointment, need for medical clearances, and any pre-operative test results were recorded.

Elective cases were significantly more likely to no-show than non-elective cases (24% vs 16.3%, P = .02). Additionally, patients who did not show up to the pre-operative testing appointments were significantly more likely to cancel within 48 hours of surgery than those with normal or abnormal pre-operative testing (P < .001). A difference in no-show rates was found between subspecialties (P = .01) with rhinology having the most no-shows (30.4%). No statistically significant difference was found between the pre- and post-pandemic groups who canceled within 48 hours of surgery.

Risks for no-show included failure to attend pre-op appointment, elective surgery, and rhinology surgery. There was no change in no-show risk factors from pre-COVID-19 pandemic to post COVID-19 pandemic.