Pediatric Plastic Surgery Operating Room Block-Time Utilization: A Casualty of Illness - PubMed (original) (raw)

. 2022 Jul-Aug;33(5):1303-1306.

doi: 10.1097/SCS.0000000000008547. Epub 2022 Feb 9.

Affiliations

Pediatric Plastic Surgery Operating Room Block-Time Utilization: A Casualty of Illness

Samantha G Maliha et al. J Craniofac Surg. 2022 Jul-Aug.

Abstract

Background: Optimizing operating room (OR) utilization is a critical component of health care system efficiency. The purpose of our study was to analyze the extent of OR cancellation and its effect on raw utilization of OR block time allotted to surgeons in the pediatric plastic surgery department.

Methods: The authors retrospectively reviewed the cases of 4 plastic surgeons at a tertiary pediatric hospital between 2018 and 2019. Data collected included patient demographics, type of surgery, time of cancellation, reason for cancellation, length of surgery, and minutes of block time allotted to each surgeon per year. Percent of cases canceled, scheduled times lost, and block times lost were calculated.

Results: Surgeons A, B, C, and D scheduled 170, 416, 305, and 474 cases, respectively. Overall, 7% of cases were canceled, 9.1% of scheduled time was lost, and a total of 5.1% of block time was lost due to cancellation. Patients of surgeon A and D were more likely to cancel due to reasons classified as ''other,'' including causes such as failure of nil per os or a family's last-minute decision to forego elective surgery (33.3% and 37.2%, respectively), whereas patients of surgeon B and C were more likely to cancel due to illness (67.9% and 36.4%, respectively).

Conclusions: Cancellations negatively impact raw utilization times; if fewer cases are performed, allotted block times are redistributed. Communication with patients in the week prior to surgery may allow for earlier identification of likely cancellations. Future directions include exploring whether particular surgeon characteristics are linked to rate of cancellations.

Copyright © 2022 by Mutaz B. Habal, MD.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

References

    1. Ferrari LR, Micheli A, Whiteley C, et al. Criteria for assessing operating room utilization in a free-standing children’s hospital. Paediatr Anaesth 2012;22:696–706
    1. Levine WC, Dunn PF. Optimizing operating room scheduling. Anesthesiol Clin 2015;33:697–711
    1. Dexter F, Macario A, Traub RD, et al. An operating room scheduling strategy to maximize the use of operating room block time: computer simulation of patient scheduling and survey of patients’ preferences for surgical waiting time. Anesth Analg 1999;89:7–20
    1. Al Talalwah N, McIltrot KH. Cancellation of surgeries: integrative review. J Perianesth Nurs 2019;34:86–96
    1. Ang WW, Sabharwal S, Johannsson H, et al. The cost of trauma operating theatre inefficiency. Ann Med Surg (Lond) 2016;7:24–29

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources