Incidence and causes of cancellation of elective surgery on the scheduled day in a tertiary care hospital of India – A cross-sectional study

Background: A meticulously planned elective surgery list is a very important strategy of a hospital to ensure efficient utilization of its resources. Cancellation of surgery causes wastage of already scare tertiary care resources, and psychological and financial strain on the patient, the importance of which is felt even more if the cause is preventable. This study was executed to ascertain the incidence and causes for cancellation of elective surgeries on the scheduled day at a tertiary care hospital with the intention of maximally utilizing the available resources. Materials and Methods: The study was executed from January 1, 2019, to March 18, 2020. Data were obtained from each operating room of all specialties pertaining to patient details, planned surgery, and the reason for cancellation. Results: Total canceled cases were 206 (2.31%) out of 8937 cases. Most cases that were canceled belonged to the surgical gastroenterology (28.16% of the total canceled cases of all departments; n = 58) followed by neurosurgery department (19.41%; n = 40). Most cancellations were due to time constraints (~39%, n = 81). The second most common reason was surgeon related (34.6%), mainly overbooking. Patient-related issues caused cancellation in 16.5% ( n = 39) of cases. Conclusions: Time constraints due to unexpected prolongation of previous cases and overbooking of operation theater were the significant reasons for the cancellation of elective cases on the day of surgery.