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| ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2013 | Volume
: 59
| Issue : 4 | Page : 281-283 |
Utilization of operating room time in a cancer hospital
P Ranganathan, P Khanapurkar, JV Divatia
Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain, Tata Memorial Hospital, Parel, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Correspondence Address:
P Ranganathan
Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain, Tata Memorial Hospital, Parel, Mumbai, Maharashtra
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/0022-3859.123155
Background: Appropriate usage of operating room (OR) time can improve efficiency of utilization of resources and help to decrease surgical waiting lists. Aims: This study was conducted to evaluate the pattern of usage of OR time in a tertiary referral cancer hospital. Setting and Design: This was a prospective audit carried out over 2 months in 11 major ORs in a cancer hospital. Materials and Methods: OR anesthesiologists filled a standard form for all patients undergoing elective surgery and documented the following times: entry into OR, start of anesthesia, handover to surgeon, incision, start of reversal, end of anesthesia, and shifting out of patient. Statistical Analysis: Median time utilized for various OR processes was calculated. Results: An average of two surgeries were performed per OR session (828 surgeries in 407 OR sessions). Anesthesia and surgery-related processes contributed to 17% and 79%, respectively, of total OR time, with turnover time between cases accounting for the remaining 4%. Fifteen percent (60 out of 407) OR sessions started more than 10 min later than the planned start time, and 17% (70 of 407) of OR sessions ended more than 2 h after the scheduled finish time. An anesthesia procedure room was utilized in only 15% of cases where it could potentially have been used. Conclusion: This audit identified patterns of OR usage in a cancer hospital and helped to detect areas of inefficient utilization. Anesthesia-related processes contributed to 17% of the total OR time.
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