Surgery cancellations at a public hospital

Objective: To determine the frequency of cancellation of scheduledsurgeries at a public hospital in the city of S o Paulo, and to identifythe reasons of cancellation. Methods: A descriptive, exploratory,retrospective study, with quantitative analysis, of records ofprocedures cancelled and medical charts of patients whose surgerieswere cancelled, between January 2006 and July 2007. Results: Ofthe 6,149 (100%) surgeries scheduled for the period surveyed, 701(11.4%) were canceled and 5,448 (88.6%) conducted; among thesurgeries cancelled, most were general surgeries (237/33.8%) andorthopedic surgery (200/28.5%); surgeons or assistant surgeons(518/73.9%) and anesthesiologists (183/26.1%) were responsible forcancellations. The primary reasons for cancellation were unfavorableclinical status of patients (225/32.1%), no show up of patients(119/17.0%), change in medical management (79/11.3%), patientnot appropriately prepared (53/7.5%) and lack of material (52/7.4%).Conclusions: This study enabled identifying the frequency and causesof surgical cancellations at a public hospital, so as to contribute toimproving professional performance in this area.