ArticleThe Journal of the Egyptian Public Health Association2025
Prevalence, causes, and staff perception of same-day elective surgery cancellation at a university hospital: a mixed study.
Article in The Journal of the Egyptian Public Health Association, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSame-day elective surgery cancellations disrupt healthcare efficiency by wasting resources and increasing costs due to repeated preparations and extended hospital stays. Beyond the financial toll, delays in necessary procedures can worsen health conditions, heighten patient anxiety, and prolong recovery times. These cancellations also place emotional and logistical burdens on patients and families, further amplifying their impact. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of same-day elective surgery cancellations at the El-Demerdash University Hospital in Egypt, identify the underlying causes-including hospital-related, patient-related, and staff-related factors-and explore the perceptions of operating room (OR) staff regarding these causes.
methodsA mixed-methods approach was used, combining quantitative and qualitative components. The quantitative component was a cross-sectional study including the prospective collection and analysis of 993 elective surgeries performed in 21 ORs at El-Demerdash University Hospital. The qualitative component involved 25 OR staff members and comprised two focus-group discussions with OR nurses, as well as 15 in-depth interviews with surgeons, anesthesiologists, and OR secretaries.
resultsThe cancellation rate for same-day elective surgeries was 12.59%. Key reasons for cancellation included unavailable OR time (24.03%), lack of ICU beds (21.71%), changes in the patient's medical condition (14.73%), prolonged previous surgeries (10.85%), and equipment issues (7.75%). The qualitative analysis revealed that most OR staff expected a cancellation rate of 10-20%, identifying ICU bed unavailability and changes in patient condition as the primary contributing factors.
conclusionSame-day elective surgery cancellations at El-Demerdash University Hospital are lower than the rates reported in most developing countries but remain higher than the international efficiency benchmark. The leading causes are primarily avoidable and hospital related. To improve OR utilization, strategic management interventions targeting the key causes are recommended. These include optimizing the OR booking system, improving department communication, and ensuring proper preoperative patient preparation and education and better resource allocation.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.