How to site this article: R Arun Kumar, C Ganesan. A clinical audit on cancellation of elective surgery on a scheduled day in a teaching institution. MedPulse International Journal of Anesthesiology. November 2019; 12(2): 161-165. http://medpulse.in/Anesthsiology/index.php Original Research Article A clinical audit on cancellation of elective surgery on a scheduled day in a teaching institution R Arun Kumar 1* , C Ganesan 2 1 Associate Professor, 2 Professor and HOD, Department of Anaesthesiology, PSG Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Peelamedu, Coimbatore-641004, Tamil Nadu, INDIA. Email: shivaaniarun76@gmail.com Abstract Background: Cancellation of surgery on the scheduled date poses physical, psychological and emotional disturbances not only to the operating surgeon, but it also includes the perioperative physician as well as the patients. The most common cause of cancellation of elective surgery on a scheduled day in a teaching institution includes lack of operating time in theatre. The reasons to quantify the cancellation list is usually vivid and difficult. Aim: The objective of this audit was to find out the prevalence and the reasons for cancellation of elective surgery on the scheduled day and to find out the clinical quality indicator with regard to effective theatre utilization time on a scheduled day. Materials and Methods: This retrospective analysis was included for one year duration in a tertiary teaching hospital. We coined the cancellation of the elective surgery as any proposed surgery which was listed and planned the previous day; and subsequently not done on the scheduled day of surgery. The source of audit was the documentation maintained in cancellation records in the anaesthesia department and these data were analyzed. The most common cause for cancellation of surgery was categorized as Patient related, Pre operative (or Surgical) preparation related and Facility related factors. Observations and Results: All the data were entered in the Microsoft excel spreadsheet and a Pareto chart was constructed to prioritize the reasons and analyzed using Epi info software version. Out of 10,306 patients during the scheduled period in our audit, 532 (5.16%) patients had cancellation on the elective list. Conclusion: Appropriate pre operative assessment, better inter departmental coordination, adequate optimization prior to surgery, improving man power availability and increasing the operation theatre utilization time help to avoid cancellation of surgery on the scheduled day. Key Words: Cancellation, elective surgeries, scheduled day, teaching institution * Address for Correspondence: Dr. R Arun Kumar, Associate Professor, Department of Anaesthesiology, PSG Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Peelamedu, Coimbatore-641004, Tamil Nadu, INDIA. Email: shivaaniarun76@gmail.com Received Date: 12/09/2019 Revised Date: 19/10/2019 Accepted Date: 10/11/2019 DOI: https://doi.org/10.26611/1015121220 INTRODUCTION Surgery is the primary modality of treatment in specified diseases and it requires a multi disciplinary team work approach in the operating room. Pre anaesthetic assessment, adequate preparation and optimization of the surgical patient prior to the elective surgery, avoids the major catastrophic events perioperatively and also decreases the morbidity and mortality of the surgical patients. Cancellation of surgery on the scheduled date poses physical, psychological and emotional disturbances not only to the operating surgeon, but it also includes the perioperative physician as well as the patients. 19 The prevalence and the cause for cancellation of elective surgery on a scheduled day is diverse and vary from one institution to another. The incidence of cancellation is between 10% and 40% among the booked elective list in various institutions 1,6,15,16,17 . The most common cause of cancellation of elective surgery on a scheduled day in a Access this article online Quick Response Code: Website: www.medpulse.in Accessed Date: 12 November 2019