• Wei-Che Sung, An-Hsun Chou, Chia-Chih Liao, Min-Wen Yang, and Chee-Jen Chang.
• Department of Anesthesiology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linkuo, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
• Chang Gung Med J. 2010 Sep 1;33(5):568-75.

BackgroundRoughly 60,000 operations are performed at our medical center every year, so making efficient use of operating rooms (OR) is an important issue. Decreasing the cancellation rate of surgery is one method that could increase efficiency. We reviewed all OR cancellations in 2007 to survey the cancellation rates and causes.MethodsThe present study was retrospective. Data were collected from the Department of Anesthesiology Quality Assurance Database of Chang Gung Memorial Hospital. We analyzed medical records for cancellations from January 1 to December 31, 2007. Data were analyzed using SPSS 16.0, employing descriptive measures and logistic regression.ResultsThere were 61855 operations scheduled during this period; 229 were cancelled (0.37%). The mean age of patients in the cancelled group was significantly higher than that in the the non-cancelled group. We found a positive correlation between the cancellation rate and American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status. Cancellations for outpatient surgery were most frequent, as were those in the ophthalmology department. Forty-seven cases were cancelled because of cardiovascular problems; 136 operations were done later after the original cancellation issues were addressed while 11 were done under local anesthesia.ConclusionsOf all causes of cancellation of surgery, 54.1% were avoidable. Medical teams must communicate better with patients and relatives, identify and treat relevant comorbidities, and make adequate preparations for surgery.

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