Key result
The incidence of elective surgical case cancellation was 21% (336 of 1,599 cases), with resource limitations such as time constraints and lack of theatre space being the most common factors.
Why the study?
Cancellation of elective surgeries has a negative impact on health systems, especially in resource-challenged countries, prompting an assessment of cancellation frequency and associated factors.
Cohort (n=1,599)
No
The 21% cancellation rate of elective surgeries at a Namibian hospital highlights significant resource and time management limitations, far exceeding the internationally recommended rate of <5%.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Resource constraints driving high elective cancellations warrant system-level review; leaves open the effectiveness of targeted interventions.
Introduction: An elective surgical case cancellation refers to any planned operation that was not performed on the scheduled day. Cancellation of elective surgeries has a negative impact on health systems, especially in resource challenged countries. This study determined frequency and factors associated with cancellation of elective surgical operation in Intermediate Hospital, Oshakati. Methodology: A prospective observational cohort study design was employed, and all patients scheduled to undergo elective surgeries from September to November 2023 were recruited. A proforma was used to extract data from patient’s record, daily scheduled operation lists and theatre surgery register. The data collected were analysed using SPSS for windows (IBM Corp. Released 2013. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 28.0. IBM Corporation, Armonk, NY, USA). The results were presented as frequencies and percentages in tables and chat. Results: During the study period, 1599 elective surgeries were booked, of which 336 cases (21%) were cancelled on the day of surgery. Of the total cancelled cases, 186 (55.4%) were female and 150 (44.6%) were males patients. Vascular surgery (45.8%) had the highest proportion of cancellations while Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) department had the least (9.4%). The most common factors why surgeries were cancelled were time constraints (21.4%) and lack of theatre space (15.5%). Conclusion: The overall cancellation incidence was found to be higher than the internationally recommended rate of less than 5%. Our 21% rate was found higher than that of most developed countries but lower than some African countries. Factors related to Human and equipment limitations constituted the most common category of reasons for cancellations.
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Josef et al. (2025) conducted a cohort in Elective surgical operations (n=1,599). Elective surgery scheduling was evaluated on Incidence of elective surgical case cancellation on the day of surgery. The incidence of elective surgical case cancellation was 21% (336 of 1,599 cases), with resource limitations such as time constraints and lack of theatre space being the most common factors.
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