Resident Teaching Versus the Operating Room Schedule: An Independent Observer-Based Study of 1558 Cases

The impact of an anesthesia residency teaching service on anesthesia-controlled time and postsurgical patient outcomes: a retrospective observational study on 15,084 surgical cases

BACKGROUND

Limited data exists regarding the impact of anesthesia residents on operating room efficiency and patient safety outcomes. This investigation hypothesized that supervised anesthesiology residents do not increase anesthesia-controlled or prolonged extubation times compared to supervised certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNA)/certified anesthesiologist assistants (CAA) or anesthesiologists working independently. Secondary objectives included differences in critical outcomes such as intraoperative hypotension, cardiac and pulmonary complications, acute kidney injury, and mortality.

METHODS

This retrospective single-center 24-month (January 1, 2020- December 31, 2021) cohort focused on primary outcomes of anesthesia-controlled times and prolonged extubation (>15 min) with additional assessment of secondary patient outcomes in adult patients having general anesthesia with an endotracheal tube or laryngeal mask airway for elective non-cardiac surgery. The study excluded sedation, obstetric, endoscopic, ophthalmology, and non-operating room procedures. Procedures were divided into three groups: anesthesiologists working solo, anesthesiologists supervising residents, or anesthesiologists supervising CRNA/CAAs. After univariate analysis, multivariable models were constructed to control for the univariate cofactor differences in the primary and secondary outcomes.

RESULTS

A total of 15,084 surgical cases met the inclusion criteria for this study for the three different care models: solo anesthesiologists (1,204 cases), anesthesiologist/resident pairing (3,146 cases), and anesthesiologist/CRNA/CAA (14,040 cases). Before multivariate analysis, the resident group exhibited longer anesthesia-controlled times (median, [interquartile range], 26.1 [21.7-32.0], p < 0.001), compared to CRNA/CAA (23.9 [19.7-29.5]), and attending-only surgical cases (21.0 [17.9-25.4]). After adjusting for covariates in a general linear regression model (age, BMI, ASA classification, comorbidities, arterial line insertion, surgical service, and surgical location), there were no significant differences in the anesthesia-controlled times between the provider groups. Prolonged extubation times (>15 min) were significantly less common in the anesthesiologist-only group compared to the other groups (p < 0.001). Despite these time differences, there were no clinically significant differences among the groups in postoperative pulmonary or cardiac complications, renal impairment, or the 30-day mortality rate of patients.

CONCLUSION

Anesthesia residents do not increase anesthesia-controlled operating room times or adversely affect clinically relevant patient outcomes compared to anesthesiologists working independently or supervising certified registered nurse anesthetists or certified anesthesiologist assistants.

Productivity in relation to organization of a surgical department: a retrospective observational study

BACKGROUND

Responsible and efficient resource utilization are important factors in healthcare. The aim of this study was to investigate how total case time differs between two differently organized surgical departments.

METHODS

This is a retrospective observational study of a cohort of patients undergoing elective surgery for breast cancer or malignant melanoma in a university hospital setting in Sweden. All patients were operated on by the same set of surgeons but in two different surgical departments: a general surgery (GS) and a cardiothoracic (CT) surgery department. Patients were selected to the two departments from a waiting list in the order of referral for surgery. The effect of being operated on at the CT department compared to the GS department was estimated by linear regression.

RESULTS

The final study cohort comprised 349 patients in the GS department and 177 patients in the CT department. Both groups were similar regarding surgical procedures, American Society of Anesthesiologists' score, body mass index, age, sex, and the skill level of the operating surgeon. These covariates were included in the linear regression model. The total case time, defined by the Procedural Time Glossary as room set-up start to room clean-up finish, was significantly shorter for the patients who underwent a surgical procedure at the CT department compared to the GS department, even after adjusting for the background characteristics of the patients and surgeon. After adjusting for the selected covariates, the average difference in total case time between the two departments was - 30.67 min (p = 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

A significantly shorter total case time was measured for operations in the CT department. Plausible explanations may be more beneficial organizational factors, such as staffing ratio, skill mix in the operating room team, and working behavioral aspects regarding resource utilization.

A Pilot Study of Surgical Trainee Participation in Humanitarian Surgeries

BACKGROUND

The impact of general surgery resident participation on operative case time and postoperative complications has been broadly studied in the United States. Although surgical trainee involvement in international humanitarian surgical care is escalating, there is limited information as to how this participation affects care rendered. This study examines the impact of trainee involvement on case length and immediate postoperative complications with regard to operations in low- and middle-income settings.

METHODS

A retrospective chart review was conducted of humanitarian surgeries completed during annual short-term surgical missions performed by the International Surgical Health Initiative to Ghana and Peru. Between 2017 and 2019, procedures included inguinal hernia repairs and total abdominal hysterectomies (TAHs). Operative records were reviewed for case type, duration, and immediate postoperative complications. Cases were categorized as involving two attending co-surgeons (AA) or one attending and resident assistant (RA).

RESULTS

There were 135 operative cases between 2017 and 2019; the majority (82%) involved a resident assistant. There were no statistically significant differences in case times between the attending assistant (AA) and resident assistant (RA) cohorts in both case types. All 23 postoperative complications were classified as Clavien-Dindo Grade I. In addition, resident assistance did not lead to a statistically significant increase in complication rate; 26% in the AA cohort versus 74% in the RA cohort (P = 0.3).

CONCLUSIONS

This pilot study examining 135 operative cases over 2 y of humanitarian surgeries demonstrates that there were no differences in operative duration or complication rates between the AA and RA cohorts. We propose that surgical trainee involvement in low- and middle-income settings do not adversely impact operative case times or postoperative complications.

Using quality improvement tools to enhance workplace learning in an anaesthesia unit

BACKGROUND

In healthcare, quality improvement (QI) tools are predominantly used to address human, system and process factors to improve clinical care. We believe that QI tools can also be used to address similar factors in medical education, to facilitate improvement in learning outcomes and competencies for new junior doctors in a postgraduate medical education program in our anaesthesia and critical care unit.

METHODS

A stepwise competency checklist was devised to guide the learning and monitor the percentage who had completed the required learning activities and tests at the end of each month. This was tabulated as monthly competency scores, and served as a measure of effectiveness of the education program. QI tools, namely the Fishbone diagram and Pareto chart, were used to identify modifiable root causes and prioritise interventions.

RESULTS

Monthly competency scores ranged 30-50% at baseline, and improved to 60-75% after 6 months, with the implementation of a series of QI interventions.

CONCLUSION

QI tools were utilised to guide education interventions, with consequent improvement in the monthly competency scores of our junior doctors. Focused improvement cycles that are aligned to learning outcomes are key to the success of using QI tools in medical education.

Operating room first case start times: a metric to assess systems-based practice milestones?

BACKGROUND

Resident competence in peri-operative care is a reflection on education and cost-efficiency. Inspecting pre-existing operating room metrics for performance outliers may be a potential solution for assessing competence. Statistical correlation of problematic benchmarks may reveal future opportunities for educational intervention.

METHODS

Case-log database review yielded 3071 surgical cases involving residents over the course of 5 years. Surgery anticipated and actual start times were evaluated for delays and residents were assessed using the days of resident training performed at the time of each corresponding case. Other variables recorded included day of week, attending anesthesiologist name, attending surgeon name, patient age, sex, American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status classification (ASA PS), and in-patient versus day surgery status. Mixed-effect, multi-variable, linear regression determined independent determinants of delay time.

RESULTS

The analysis identified day of the week (F = 25.65, P < 0.0001), days of training (F = 8.39, P = 0.0038), attending surgeon (F = 2.67, P < 0.0001), and anesthesiology resident (F = 1.67, P = 0.0012) as independent predictors of delay time for first-start cases, with an overall regression model F = 3.09, r² = 0.186, and P < 0.0001.

CONCLUSIONS

The day of the week and attending surgeon demonstrated significant impact of case delay compared to resident days trained. If a learning curve for first-case start punctuality exists for anesthesiology residents, it is subtle and irrelevant to operating room efficiency. The regression model accounted for only 19% of the variability in the outcome of delay time, indicating a multitude of additional unidentified factors contributing to operating room efficiency.

Using operating room turnover time by anesthesia trainee level to assess improving systems-based practice milestones

BACKGROUND

Operating room (OR) metrics are frequently cited when optimizing cost efficacy and quality of care (Weiss et al, Characteristics of operating room procedures in U.S. hospitals, 2011: Statistical brief #170, 2013; Macario A, Anesthesiology 105:237-240, 2006; Childers et al, JAMA Surg 153:e176233, 2018). Little has been reported to evaluate how anesthesia trainees change anesthesia-related efficiencies in the OR. Statistical correlation may demonstrate awareness and implementation of efficient systems-based practice.

METHODS

Utilizing computerized OR information systems, specific data regarding anesthesia controlled turnover times were collected (546 data points) over the course of 4 months. The type of surgery performed, patient's American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status and OR turnover times were compared for clinical anesthesia (CA) trainee levels CA1, CA2, CA3 and CRNAs. Standard descriptive statistics were computed. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to compare the average turnover time.

RESULTS

Average OR turnover time was 31 min ranging from 8 to 60 min. There was a significant difference between the OR turnover time of CA-1 (32 min) compared to CA-3 (29 min) (p = 0.017) and CA-1 compared to CRNA (30 min) (p = 0.016). OR turnover time was significantly shorter in CA-3 and CRNA. The analysis showed no differences between OR turnover time of ASA categories.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings posit that trainees improve efficiency over time, but that education may for a time come at the expense of productivity. This trend may demonstrate a more profound understanding and mastery of a learner progressing in the graduate medical education system. This interplay plays a key role in clinical and academic shared success.

Patient and Procedural Factors That Influence Anesthetized, Nonoperative Time in Spine Surgery

STUDY DESIGN

Retrospective study.

OBJECTIVE

Efficient use of operating room time is important, as delays during induction or recovery increase time not spent operating while in the operating room. We identified factors that increase anesthetized, nonoperative time by utilizing a database of over 5,000 consecutive neurosurgical spine cases.

METHODS

Surgical records were searched to identify all spine surgeries performed between January 2010 and July 2012. Anesthetized, nonoperative time was calculated from the anesthesia record and compared with both patient and procedure characteristics to determine any significant relationships.

RESULTS

There were 5,515 surgical cases with a mean age of 60.5 and mean body mass index (BMI) of 29.7; 3,226 (58%) were male subjects. There were 1,176 (21%) fusion cases, and level of pathology was predominantly lumbar (4,010 cases, 73%). Fusion cases had a significantly longer total anesthetized, nonoperative time (fusion: 98 minutes, nonfusion: 76 minutes, mean difference: 22 minutes, p < 0.0001). Significant factors affecting anesthetized, nonoperative time in nonfusion cases include age greater than 65 years (mean difference 5 minutes, p < 0.0001), American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) grade, and BMI (BMI < 25: 72 ± 1.2 minutes, BMI 25 to 29: 74 ± 0.6 minutes, BMI 30 to 39: 79 ± 0.6 minutes, BMI 40 + : 87 ± 1.8 minutes, p < 0.0001). Similarly, for fusion operations, age > 65 years significantly increased nonoperative time (mean difference 6 minutes, p < 0.01), as did increasing ASA (mean difference 9 minutes, p < 0.0001) and increasing BMI.

CONCLUSION

Patient and surgical factors, including ASA grade, BMI, level of pathology, and surgical approach, have noticeable effects on anesthetized, nonoperative times in spine surgery.

Impact of a Dedicated Emergency Medicine Teaching Resident Rotation at a Large Urban Academic Center

Introduction

In the face of declining bedside teaching and increasing emergency department (ED) crowding, balancing education and patient care is a challenge. Dedicated shifts by teaching residents (TRs) in the ED represent an educational intervention to mitigate these difficulties. We aimed to measure the perceived learning and departmental impact created by having TR.

Methods

TRs were present in the ED from 12pm–10pm daily, and their primary roles were to provide the following: assist in teaching procedures, give brief “chalk talks,” instruct junior trainees on interesting cases, and answer clinical questions in an evidence-based manner. This observational study included a survey of fourth-year medical students (MSs), residents and faculty at an academic ED. Surveys measured the perceived effect of the TR on teaching, patient flow, ease of procedures, and clinical care.

Results

Survey response rates for medical students, residents, and faculty are 56%, 77%, and 75%, respectively. MSs perceived improved procedure performance with TR presence and the majority agreed that the TR was a valuable educational experience. Residents perceived increased patient flow, procedure performance, and MS learning with TR presence. The majority agreed that the TR improved patient care. Faculty agreed that the TR increased resident and MS learning, as well as improved patient care and procedure performance.

Conclusion

The presence of a TR increased MS and resident learning, improved patient care and procedure performance as perceived by MSs, residents and faculty. A dedicated TR program can provide a valuable resource in achieving a balance of clinical education and high quality healthcare.

Prolonged patient emergence time among clinical anesthesia resident trainees

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Emergence time, or the duration between incision closure and extubation, is costly nonoperative time. Efforts to improve operating room efficiency and identify trainee progress make such time intervals of interest. We sought to calculate the incidence of prolonged emergence (i.e., >15 min) for patients under the care of clinical anesthesia (CA) residents. We also sought to identify factors from resident training, medical history, anesthetic use, and anesthesia staffing, which affect emergence.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

In this single-center, historical cohort study, perioperative information management systems provided data for surgical cases under resident care at a tertiary care center in the United States from 2006 to 2008. Using multiple logistic regression, the effects of variables on emergence was analyzed.

RESULTS

Of 7687 cases under the care of 27 residents, the incidence of prolonged emergence was 13.9%. Emergence prolongation decreased by month in training for 1^st-year (CA-1) residents (r² = 0.7, P < 0.001), but not for CA-2 and CA-3 residents. Mean patient emergence time differed among 27 residents (P < 0.01 for 58.4% or 205/351 paired comparisons). In a model restricted to 1^st-year residents, patient male gender, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status >II, emergency surgical case, operative duration ≥2 h, and paralytic agent use were associated with higher frequency of prolonged emergence, while sevoflurane or desflurane use was associated with lower frequency. Attending anesthesiologist handoff was not associated with longer emergence.

CONCLUSION

Incidence of prolonged emergence from general anesthesia differed significantly among trainees, by resident training duration, and for patients with ASA >II.

A Quantile Regression Approach to Estimating the Distribution of Anesthetic Procedure Time during Induction

Although procedure time analyses are important for operating room management, it is not easy to extract useful information from clinical procedure time data. A novel approach was proposed to analyze procedure time during anesthetic induction. A two-step regression analysis was performed to explore influential factors of anesthetic induction time (AIT). Linear regression with stepwise model selection was used to select significant correlates of AIT and then quantile regression was employed to illustrate the dynamic relationships between AIT and selected variables at distinct quantiles. A total of 1,060 patients were analyzed. The first and second-year residents (R1-R2) required longer AIT than the third and fourth-year residents and attending anesthesiologists (p = 0.006). Factors prolonging AIT included American Society of Anesthesiologist physical status ≧ III, arterial, central venous and epidural catheterization, and use of bronchoscopy. Presence of surgeon before induction would decrease AIT (p < 0.001). Types of surgery also had significant influence on AIT. Quantile regression satisfactorily estimated extra time needed to complete induction for each influential factor at distinct quantiles. Our analysis on AIT demonstrated the benefit of quantile regression analysis to provide more comprehensive view of the relationships between procedure time and related factors. This novel two-step regression approach has potential applications to procedure time analysis in operating room management.

Applying JIT principles to resident education to reduce patient delays: a pilot study in an academic medical center pain clinic

OBJECTIVES

This study investigated the effect on patient waiting times, patient/doctor contact times, flow times, and session completion times of having medical trainees and attending physicians review cases before the clinic session. The major hypothesis was that review of cases prior to clinic hours would reduce waiting times, flow times, and use of overtime, without reducing patient/doctor contact time.

DESIGN

Prospective quality improvement.

SETTING

Specialty pain clinic within Johns Hopkins Outpatient Center, Baltimore, MD, United States.

PARTICIPANTS

Two attending physicians participated in the intervention. Processing times for 504 patient visits are involved over a total of 4 months.

INTERVENTION

Trainees were assigned to cases the day before the patient visit. Trainees reviewed each case and discussed it with attending physicians before each clinic session.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES

Primary measures were activity times before and after the intervention. These were compared and also used as inputs to a discrete event simulation to eliminate differences in the arrival process as a confounding factor.

RESULTS

The average time that attending physicians spent teaching trainees while the patient waited was reduced, but patient/doctor contact time was not significantly affected. These changes reduced patient waiting times, flow times, and clinic session times.

CONCLUSIONS

Moving some educational activities ahead of clinic time improves patient flows through the clinic and decreases congestion without reducing the times that trainees or patients interact with physicians.

The Impact of Anaesthetic Trainees on Elective Caesarean Section Procedural Times: A Prospective Observational Study

Operating room efficiency is an important concern in hospitals today both in the public and private sectors. Currently, a paucity of literature exists to evaluate the impact of anaesthetic training on operating room efficiency in the Australian health system. At Monash Medical Centre, Clayton, private consultant operating sessions and public teaching operating sessions use the same operating theatres, nursing and technical staff. Consultant anaesthetists and obstetricians perform all tasks during private sessions, whereas anaesthetic and obstetric trainees perform many tasks during public sessions. In this prospective observational study, total case time, anaesthesia controlled time and the surgical time were measured for elective caesarean section under spinal anaesthesia in 59 patients (private consultantn=29, public teaching n=30). Increases in total case time (24 minutes, P <0.001), anaesthesia controlled time (5.2 minutes, P <0.015) and surgical time (19.25 minutes, P <0.001) were observed in the public teaching group compared with the private consultant group. The participation of anesthetic trainees in caesarean sections results in a modest increase in anaesthetic controlled time of approximately five minutes per case or 16 minutes in an operative session with three cases scheduled. Elimination of anaesthetic ‘training’ time does not allow scheduling of an extra elective caesarean section. Reduced operating theatre throughput is unlikely to be a consequence of training specialist anaesthetists in this clinical setting.

Anesthesia preparation time is not affected by the experience level of the resident involved during his/her first month of adult cardiac surgery

OBJECTIVE

This study was designed to answer the question of whether the experience level of the resident on his/her first month of adult cardiothoracic anesthesiology has an impact on operating room efficiency in a large academic medical center. Traditionally, the resident's 1st month of cardiac anesthesia had been reserved for the clinical anesthesia (CA)-2 year of training. This study analyzed the impact on operating room efficiency of moving the 1st month of cardiac anesthesia into the CA-1 year. The authors hypothesized that there would be no difference in anesthesia preparation times (defined as the interval between "in-room" and "anesthesia-ready" times) between CA-1 and CA-2 residents on their 1st month of cardiac anesthesia.

DESIGN

This study was retrospective and used an electronic anesthesia information management system database.

SETTING

This study was conducted on care provided at a single 450-bed academic medical center.

PARTICIPANTS

This study included 12 residents in their 1st month of cardiac anesthesia.

INTERVENTIONS

The anesthesia preparation time (defined as the interval between "in-room" and "anesthesia-ready" times) was measured for cases involving residents on their first month of cardiac anesthesia.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

Anesthesia preparation times for 6 CA-1 resident months and 6 CA-2 resident months (100 adult cardiac procedures in total) were analyzed (49 for the CA-1 residents and 51 for the CA-2s). There were no differences in preparation time between CA-1 and CA-2 residents as a group (p = 0.8169). The CA-1 residents had an unadjusted mean (±standard error) of 51.1 ± 3.18 minutes, whereas the CA-2 residents' unadjusted mean was 50.2 ± 2.41 minutes. Adjusting for case mix (valves v coronary artery bypass graft surgery), the CA-1 mean was 49.1 ± 5.22 minutes, whereas the CA-2 mean was 49.1 ± 4.54 minutes.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that operating room efficiency as measured by the anesthesia preparation time may not be affected by the level of the resident on his/her 1st month of adult cardiac anesthesia.

Quantifying surgeon's contribution to team effectiveness on a mixed team with a junior surgeon

BACKGROUND

A surgical team often consists of an experienced surgeon and surgeons in training. This project quantified the contribution of the experienced surgeon to the teamwork in a team comprised of 1 experienced and 1 novice surgeon (Mixed Team).

METHODS

An experienced and a novice surgeon in a Mixed Team were required to complete a peg transportation task and an intracorporeal suture task collaboratively. Tasks were evaluated by a summative score (up to 100 points) that was calculated on task speed and accuracy. Performances of 24 Mixed Teams were compared to 24 Novice Teams (each composed of 2 novices) and 8 Expert Teams (each composed of 2 experienced surgeons).

RESULTS

The Mixed Teams performed better (67.6 points) than the Novice Teams (51.3; P < .001) but worse than the Expert Teams (88.3; P < .001). When examining individual performance in the Mixed Teams, we observed that experienced surgeons maintained their superior performance like they did in the Expert Teams (P = .153). Novices in the Mixed Teams, however, showed markedly better performances than they did in the Novice Teams (P = .024).

CONCLUSION

Instant guidance and instruction from experienced surgeons inspire novices' performance, providing a foundation for surgical teamwork effectiveness.

The cost of resident education

BACKGROUND

Patients cared for by surgeons with resident coverage have an increase in cost versus those patients cared for by surgeons without resident coverage, despite no significant difference in complications. We evaluated the reasons for the disparate cost.

METHODS

In a single institutional analysis, patients received their care from a group of eight surgeons, four with and four without resident coverage. We analyzed ancillary costs, including pharmacy, radiology, laboratory, and central supply costs, and length of stay, total cost, and hospital margin for these patients. In a separate analysis, we compared data that contributes to cost from the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) database, including age in years, ASA class I-IV, total operating room time in minutes (min), length of hospital stay in days (d), number of patients with a return to OR in 30 d, and complications.

RESULTS

There were no significant differences in ancillary costs in patients cared for by residents. The length of stay was longer in patients cared for by residents (3.3 versus 4.6 d, no resident versus resident, respectively, P = 0.0001). When adjusted for the length of stay, the difference between total costs was $1949/d versus $2103/d (P = NS) for the no resident versus resident groups, respectively. There were 32,685 patients evaluated in the NSQIP database. In all comparisons, operating room time was significantly longer in patients with procedures involving residents.

CONCLUSION

The increase in cost in patients cared for by surgeons with residents is not from significant differences in ancillary costs, and may be from length of stay. Surgical procedures are significantly longer with resident involvement.

Influence of anaesthesia resident training on the duration of three common surgical operations

We investigated the influence of resident training on anaesthesia workflow of three standard procedures--laparoscopic cholecystectomy, diagnostic gynaecological laparoscopy and transurethral prostate gland resection (TURP)--comparing 259 non-emergency resident vs 341 consultant cases from 20 German hospitals. Each hospital provided 10 random cases for each procedure, yielding 600 cases for analysis. Standard time intervals as documented in the hospital information system were: 'Case Time' (the time from the start of anaesthesia induction to discharge of the patient to the recovery area) and 'Anaesthesia Control Time' (which was the Case Time minus the time from the start of surgery to the end of surgical closure). Case Time was significantly shorter for consultants in all three procedures (p < 0.05, analysis of variance) and Anaesthesia Control Time shorter for consultants only in gynaecological laparoscopy and TURP. Patient comorbidity, patient age and geographical location of the hospital were not influential factors in the analysis of variance. We conclude that resident training significantly increases duration of elective operative times.

The effect of emergency department crowding on education: blessing or curse?

Emergency department (ED) crowding is a national crisis that contributes to medical error and system inefficiencies. There is a natural concern that crowding may also adversely affect undergraduate and graduate emergency medicine (EM) education. ED crowding stems from a myriad of factors, and individually these factors can present both challenges and opportunities for education. Review of the medical literature demonstrates a small body of evidence that education can flourish in difficult clinical environments where faculty have a high clinical load and to date does not support a direct deleterious effect of crowding on education. To provide a theoretical framework for discussing the impact of crowding on education, the authors present a conceptual model of the effect of ED crowding on education and review possible positive and negative effects on each of the six recognized Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) core competencies.

Influence of resident training on anaesthesia induction times

BACKGROUND

The effect of resident training in anaesthesiology on operating room (OR) economics is an issue of debate. Comparisons of anaesthesia process times between residents and consultants might be systematically skewed by interactions of anaesthesia technique and patient factors.

METHODS

In this prospective, observational study, we analysed anaesthesia process times in 599 cases performed for four different surgical services in a University hospital. The following factors were recorded for each case and used in multivariate analyses of process times: age, American Society of Anesthesiologist (ASA) status, BMI, emergency status, the educational level of the anaesthetist, and the anaesthesia technique.

RESULTS

In the non-adjusted comparison, only for two of seven anaesthetic techniques did resident cases have statistically significant longer induction times than consultant cases: general anaesthesia with placement of a central venous catheter [mean (sd) anaesthesia time for resident cases 38.2 (17.0) vs 22.3 (10.0) min for consultant cases, P=0.001] and general anaesthesia with a laryngeal mask airway [resident cases 11.3 (5.5) vs consultant cases 7.3 (5.0) min, P=0.003]. Anaesthetic technique had the greatest effect on anaesthesia induction time. Educational level of the anaesthetist and age of the patients had small, but significant effects.

CONCLUSIONS

Anaesthesia cases performed by residents have in some, but not in all, anaesthesia techniques increased process times compared with cases performed by consultants. This limits a possible negative impact on OR economics by resident education. Patient-based factors including ASA status, BMI, and emergency status have minimal or no effect on anaesthesia process times.

Can the Attending Anesthesiologist Accurately Predict the Duration of Anesthesia Induction?

In a prospective, observational study, the attending anesthesiologists' prediction of anesthesia release time (ART) of the patient to the surgical team was highly correlated with actual ART (r = 0.77; P < or = 0.001). However, this was true only in the aggregate (n = 1265 patients). Indeed, offsetting degrees of under- and over-predicting (24% each) reduced accuracy to only 53% per individual case. For example, under-prediction was associated with ASA physical status IV, a regional anesthetic technique, age >65 yr, and the use of invasive hemodynamic monitoring (P = 0.006). In fact, as the degree of case difficulty increased, the correlation coefficient between predicted and actual ART decreased, indicating a poor predictive value with more difficult inductions (r = 0.82 to r = 0.44; P < or = 0.004). We conclude that knowledge of the presence of specific factors that lead to inaccurate predictions of time required for induction of anesthesia may enhance the accuracy of the operating room schedule.

Task Analysis of the Preincision Surgical Period: An Independent Observer-Based Study of 1558 Cases

Intense production pressure has focused on the preincision period (from patient-on-table to incision) as an important component of overall operating room efficiency. We conducted a prospective study in which trained independent observers measured the performance of anesthesiologists, surgeons, and nursing staff to determine anesthesia release time (ART, patient-on-table until release for surgical preparation) and surgical preparation time (SPT, start surgical preparation to incision) and the factors, including delays, that affect their duration. We enrolled 1558 patients undergoing elective surgery in a tertiary medical center. The mean ART was 21 +/- 16 min. Mean SPT was 22 +/- 13 min, and mean case length was 207 +/- 123 min. Significant variation was seen in both ART (range, 1-115 min) and SPT (range, 1-130 min). Multivariate regression analysis revealed ASA physical status, age, level of resident training, invasive monitoring, case length, and case number in the room were all positive predictors of ART duration (P < 0.05). In contrast, gender, body mass index, number of anesthesia personnel concurrently in the room, and number of rooms covered per anesthesia attending were not predictors for ART (P > 0.05). Delays affected both ART and SPT and were encountered in 24.5% of all procedures (surgery 66.8%, anesthesiology 21.7%, and logistical 11.5%). For operating room scheduling purposes, we conclude that assigning a constant fixed duration for anesthetic induction is inappropriate and will result in creating erroneous administrative expectations.