Objective:

To investigate the suspension rates and reasons for cancellation of elective surgery in a teaching hospital in Rio Grande do Norte.

Methods:

A descriptive, retrospective, quantitative study, with documentary analysis of the records filed in the computerized system of the Surgical Center unit of Onofre Lopes University Hospital, from April 2015 to April 2016.

Results:

Of the 8.622 (100%) scheduled surgeries for the surveyed period, 74.2% were performed and 25.8% canceled. Among the canceled surgeries (2.227), most cancellations were made by General Surgery (37.5%) and Urology (21.6%). The main reasons for cancellations were included in the categories related to the following aspects: unit's organization (34.4%); related to human resources (27.1%); patient-related (6.5%); related to materials and equipment (6.2%), without justification (5.5%) and conditional surgery (0.3%).

Conclusions:

The study identified the cancellations causes of elective surgeries in a teaching hospital, contributing to the improvement of professional performance. This may contribute to reduce the number of suspensions, considering that most reasons for cancellation are prevenTable.

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