Abstract
Abstract Background Cancellation of scheduled cases on the day of surgery leads to waste of resources, financial burden, patient dissatisfaction, extended hospital stay, and unnecessary repetition of preoperative preparations. The purpose of this retrospective study was to analyze the causes of case cancellation in our institution so as to improve hospital quality control as well as perioperative risk management. Methods We conducted a retrospective analysis of all cancellations of scheduled elective surgical procedures. We analyzed all cases that were canceled after the patient had been delivered to the operating room (OR). The data about case cancellations was obtained from the Hospital Information System (HIS) of the National Research Oncology and Transplantation Center. Results The most common single reason for cancellation was preoperative hypertensive crisis (n=67; 80.7%), followed by heart rhythm disorders (n=6; 7.2%), incomplete preoperative patient evaluation (n=5; 6.1%), myocardial ischemia (n=4; 4.8%), and pneumonia (n=1; 1.2%). Most of the cancellations (76 out of 83; 92%) were considered to be potentially avoidable. Conclusions In conclusion, that the most common reasons for case cancellation were patient-related cardiovascular conditions (preoperative hypertensive crisis, dysrhythmia, myocardial ischemia). Improvement in preoperative assessment and management of the cardiovascular condition is needed to reduce scheduled case cancellation rate.