Cancellation of surgery in patients attending the preoperative anaesthesia assessment clinic: A prospective audit

Objective: To find the causes of operating room cancellation in patients attending preoperative anaesthesia clinic and scheduled for surgery at our institution. Methods: This audit included all those patients who presented to the pre anaesthesia clinic with their surgeries planned in the main operating rooms of our hospital. The duration of this audit was two months. Cancelled cases were identified from the operating room lists and the reasons for cancellations were categorized into above mentioned four factors. Results: Fifty five (55) cancellations were identified; patient related factors (58%) were the most frequent cause followed by anaesthetic (22%), surgical (18.2%) and administrative (1.8%) factors. In patients related factors, most common causes appeared to be no-shows and patient's financial issues. Conclusion: Most of the patient related factors were found to be uncontrollable. Anaesthetic related cancellations might be reduced with better communication between anaesthetist themselves and the surgeons. Overbooking of cases and other administrative issues can be reduced with better organizational strategies.