OPERATIONS

CANCELLATION ON THE INTENDED DAY OF SURGERY

Abstract

Objective: To find out reasons for cancellation of operation on the day of surgery
in the Surgical Department of Civil Hospital Karachi. Design: Observational study. Setting &
Period: All operation theatre bookings of the Civil Hospital Surgical Department from July 2010 to
October 2010 have been studied by using the ‘daily operating theatre lists’. Frequency of
cancellation, type of surgeries cancelled and their reasons studied. Results: Out of total 455
cases, 97 (21%) surgical operations were cancelled on the day of surgery, highlighting patients’
non-compliance as a major contributing reason, followed by the lack of operating room time and
other causes. Among the less contributing factors were patient expiry on table, failure to
administer anesthesia and delay in operation due to exams (engagement of patients in
undergraduate exam in the college). Conclusions: Patients non-compliance is a major
challenging factor that causes a large number of cancellations of operations in the Civil Hospital
Karachi.