Observational studyAnaesthesia2021
An observational study of distractions in the operating theatre.
Observational study in Anaesthesia, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 40 citations in OpenAlex.
- Enhancing Surgical Safety and Efficiency: Systematic Review and Single-Arm Meta-Analysis of Surgical Data Recorders.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Pooled it
- The Effect of Task Demand on EEG Responses to Irrelevant Sound and Speech in Simulated Surgical Environments.Psychophysiology · 2026Article
- The relationship between quality of work life and distractions in operating room nurses: a correlational study.BMC nursing · 2026Article
- Reflexive priority of biological motion in attentional orienting: evidence from conflict resistance in complex visual settings.Cognitive research: principles and implications · 2026Article
- Understanding Sustainability in Operating Theaters: An Ethnographic Study to Determine Drivers of Unsustainable Behaviors.Annals of surgery open : perspectives of surgical history, education, and clinical approaches · 2026Article
- Observational
- Measuring and reducing surgical staff stress in a realistic operating room setting using EDA monitoring and smart hearing protection.Frontiers in digital health · 2026Article
- Dynamic patterns of communication and workload during cardiac surgery: An explorative study.PloS one · 2026Article
- The association between the duration of surgery and risks of mortality and unplanned reoperation is modulated by the surgical start time.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- The Impact of COVID-19 on Healthcare Services, Risk Management, and Infection Prevention in Surgical Settings: A Qualitative Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Using mobile EEG to study auditory work strain during simulated surgical procedures.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Visual Mapping of Operating Theater Team Dynamics and Communication for Reflexive Feedback and Surgical Practice Optimization.Annals of surgery open : perspectives of surgical history, education, and clinical approaches · 2024Article
- A Quantitative Analysis of Intraoperative Distractions and When They Occur During General Surgical Operations.Cureus · 2024Article
- Effects of colour-coded compartmentalised syringe trays on anaesthetic drug error detection under cognitive load.British journal of anaesthesia · 2024Article
- The Effects of an Order-Assist Mobile Application on Pediatric Anesthesia Safety: An Observational Study.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Standardised colour-coded compartmentalised syringe trays improve anaesthetic medication visual search and mitigate cognitive load.British journal of anaesthesia · 2023Article
- Investigating the attentional focus to workplace-related soundscapes in a complex audio-visual-motor task using EEG.Frontiers in neuroergonomics · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Several studies have reported on the negative impact of interruptions and distractions on anaesthetic, surgical and team performance in the operating theatre. This study aimed to gain a deeper understanding of these events and why they remain part of everyday clinical practice. We used a mixed methods observational study design. We scored each distractor and interruption according to an established scheme during induction of anaesthesia and the surgical procedure for 58 general surgical cases requiring general anaesthesia. We made field notes of observations, small conversations and meetings. We observed 64 members of staff for 148 hours and recorded 4594 events, giving a mean (SD) event rate of 32.8 (16.3) h
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.