Cancellation of Surgeries: Integrative Review

Abstract

Purpose: To analyze cancellations of surgeries and identify evidence-based interventions to address this issue.

Design: Integrative literature review.

Methods: An integrative literature search was conducted in four databases: CINAHL, PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane and included literature sources dated January 2011 to January 2016. The complete list of search terms consisted of the following: ambulatory surgery, day surgery center, elective surgical procedure, elective operation, elective surgery, schedule, access to care, surgery cancellation, operation cancellation, and surgery delay.

Findings: Twenty-three literature sources were identified. Evidence included one randomized controlled trial and multiple studies. Causes of cancellations were classified into three categories: hospital-related reasons, patient-related reasons, and surgeon-related reasons. Evidence confirmed most cancellations were avoidable.

Conclusions: Cancellation of scheduled surgeries has a significant impact on patients' health, resources, cost, and quality of care. It is difficult to devise a solution without understanding the cause of cancellations.

Keywords: elective surgery; surgery cancellation; surgery delay.