Can preoperative anesthesia consultation clinic help to reduce operating room cancellation rate on the day of surgery?

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the role of "pre-anesthesia consultation clinic" in reducing operating room cancellation. Method: We prospectively studied cancellation rate of 1716 scheduled cases for open heart surgery during a four months period. Of these, 866 cases were scheduled for operation before establishment of pre-anesthesia consultation clinic (Group 1) and 850 cases scheduled for after that (Group 2). The data collected included patient age, ASA physical status and date of the preoperative assessment. Results: Of 1716 patients studied, 15.93% of cases were cancelled. Cancellation rate in Group 1 was 16.8% and in Group 2 it was 13.29% (p=0.046). The most common cause of cancellation in the two groups was incomplete medical work-up (32%). The percentage of incomplete medical work-up as an important cause of cancellation in group1 was 19.8% and in group 2 it was 12.6%. Conclusions: Most common cause of surgery cancellation in two groups was incomplete medical work-up, and was higher in group1 than group 2. Therefore, pre-anesthesia consultation would minimize cancellation rate on the day of surgery.