Background. Although blood ordering is a common practice in surgical field, the average requirement for a particular procedure is usually based on subjective anticipation of blood loss rather than on evidence based estimates. Overordering with minimal utilization squanders technical time, reagent and imposes extra expenses on patients. This study was conducted to assess blood utilization practi...

Little research has been performed in regards to the morbidity and outcomes associated with elective general surgery performed on patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD). With minimal data about the severity of disease in these patients, we sought to quantify the differences in the ESRD patient undergoing elective surgical procedures compared with matched controls. A review of all ESRD pat...

OBJECTIVE To determine the morbidity and mortality of surgical treatment of false (anastomotic) aneurysms, we analyzed the results of 158 consecutive surgical procedures for repair of false aneurysms that were detected as a result of a surveillance program after aortic reconstruction with a prosthesis. DESIGN Retrospective analysis of patient data from a vascular registry that included inform...

BACKGROUND A public hospital in New Mexico required collection of 50% of estimated costs prior to elective surgeries for self-pay patients. This study assesses the impact of this policy on access to elective surgical procedures. METHODS Chi-square tests determined if there was a statistically significant difference between the number of self-pay and insured patient cancellations for financial...

This paper investigates the trade-off between cancellations of elective surgeries due to semi-urgent surgeries, and unused operating room (OR) time due to excessive reservation of OR time for semi-urgent surgeries. Semi-urgent surgeries, to be performed soon but not necessarily today, pose an uncertain demand on available hospital resources, and interfere with the planning of elective patients....

INTRODUCTION In Denmark, it is compulsory to report post-operative infections (PI) to the Danish Health and Medicines Authority. The aims of the present study were to determine, firstly, the incidence of PI following elective ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgery as well as the number of cases reported to the Danish health authorities; secondly, the PI distribution in various surgical subgroups; a...

BACKGROUND The cancellation of planned surgeries causes prolonged wait times, harm to patients, and is a waste of scarce resources. To reduce high cancellation rates in a Norwegian general hospital, the pathway for elective surgery was redesigned. The changes included earlier clinical assessment of patients, better planning and documentation systems, and increased involvement of patients in the...

BACKGROUND Prolonged preoperative fasting in children is a common problem, especially in highvolume centers. All international professional society guidelines for preoperative fasting recommend 2 h for clear fluids, 4 h for breast milk and 6 h for solids, nonhuman and formula milk in children. These guidelines are rarely adhered to in practice. AIMS An audit was undertaken to determine the le...

Although traditional "NPO (nothing by mouth) after midnight" policies are being liberalized, noncompliance with NPO status remains a threat to patient safety and may result in delays of elective surgical procedures, decrease the efficiency of the ambulatory surgery setting, and waste healthcare dollars. The purpose of the present study was to examine how comprehensive NPO instructions affected ...