ABSTRACT
Objective:
to analyze the rate and causes of cancellations in an outpatient surgery unit at a university polyclinic that is part of the Unified Health System and located in the city of Rio de Janeiro.
Method:
a cross-sectional study carried out in the outpatient surgical center of a university polyclinic in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The data for the period August 2021 to July 2022 was extracted from the institution's database using a form containing the patients' sociodemographic and clinical variables, month, surgical specialty, causes and period of cancellation. The Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test was used for the age group variable, and Pearson's chi-square test was used for the month and specialty variables, with a significance level of 5%.
Results:
of the 2,147 outpatient surgeries scheduled, 334 were canceled, with an annual surgical cancellation rate of 15.55%. There was a statistically significant difference in cancellations in December (p= 0.010), in the vascular surgery specialty (p= 0.001) and in older adults (p= 0.007). A total of ten causes of cancellation were found, the most frequent being patient absence (n=117; 35.03%), unfavorable clinical conditions (n=92; 27.54%) and non-compliance with preoperative preparation (n=30; 8.98%).
Conclusion:
the surgical cancellation rate was high, mainly due to the patient's absence and clinical conditions on the day of surgery. It is hoped that the data will help to subsidize and raise awareness of the active participation of all professionals involved in outpatient surgery, in order to avoid cancellations.
DESCRIPTORS:
Outpatient surgical procedures; Quality indicators in health care; Perioperative nursing; Pre-operative care; Surgical centers