Introduction

Surgery is any procedure performed in the operating room that allows timely treatment of pathologies and injuries; in Colombia, an indicator of the quality of the information system is the proportion of scheduled surgery cancellations.

Materials and method

We designed a retrospective observational study, selecting all patients scheduled for surgery at the hospital institution from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016. A total of 3207 patients were included. We analyzed cases of surgery cancellations because of factors attributable to the patient, institution, and medical order.

Results

Of the 3207 scheduled procedures, 1739 (54.2%) were men and 1468 (45.8%) were women. Surgical procedures were scheduled for patients aged between 6 months and 116 years, with an average age of 38 years. Of the scheduled procedures, 244 (7.6%) surgeries were cancelled. The months with the lowest and highest incidences of surgery cancellation were August and November, with 9 (3.7%) and 36 (14.8%) cancellations, respectively. The cancellation rate for surgical specialties independently ranged from 1 (0.4%) for gynecology specialties of oncology, maxillofacial, and urology and 85 (34.8%) for orthopedics.

As the causes of cancellation, 93 (38.1%) were attributable to the institution, 99 (40.6) to patients, and 52 (21.3%) to medical orders.

Conclusions

In total, 41% of cancellations could have been avoided. We recommend continuous monitoring of scheduled patients, as well as the dissemination of our findings to professionals for the empowerment of responsibilities and the need for education for patients undergoing intervention.

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