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Advances in Knowledge
* - To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no studies on rates of surgical cancellation have yet been published from governmental hospitals in Oman.
* - The majority of surgical cancellations at the Ibri Regional Hospital, Ibri, Oman, were attributed to patient no-shows, with very few cancellations due to facility- or operating theatre-related reasons.
* - Findings from the current study indicated a higher rate of surgical cancellations due to no-shows in comparison to reports from the international literature.
Application to Patient Care
* - Understanding the burden of surgical cancellation is a necessary step for the implementation of policies to minimise cancellations. As such, the results of the current study may help local healthcare administrators and lead to a better health service in Oman. Additionally, the resulting economic savings from such steps may help to cover other hospital expenditures, potentially improving patient care.
* - Furthermore, a decrease in surgical cancellations could also reduce the psychological impact of cancellations and subsequent rescheduling of operations on patients and their families.
The operating theatre (ot) is an integral part of any hospital and utilises considerable economic resources and manpower. The OT requires an assembly of staff from the surgery, anaesthesia and nursing teams in addition to surgical instruments and equipment. For elective surgeries, preoperative protocols can include laboratory and radiological work-ups, pre-anaesthetic clinic (PAC) assessments and the booking of intensive care unit beds. However, both hospitals and patients can be negatively affected if the surgery is subsequently cancelled following these preparations. From an administrative perspective, surgical cancellation leads to OT underutilisation; in 2001, the cost of unused OT time was estimated to be USD $1,400–2,000 per hour.1 Moreover, surgical cancellation inconveniences patients, as cancelled cases will need to be rescheduled. Patients may have travelled long distances and taken leave from work in order to come into the hospital; they may therefore feel emotional and psychological distress if their surgeries are cancelled or delayed.2
Although surgical cancellation has been extensively studied, reported rates of surgical cancellation are inconsistent (4.5–30.3%).3–7 Furthermore, there is a lack of agreement in the literature regarding the most prevalent reasons for cancellations. Common causes include previous surgeries running beyond their allotted OT time, hospital-initiated factors...