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The Role of the Surgical Facility in Determining Operative Times
Fishman JE, Washington K
UPMC Plastic Surgery
2017-01-27
Presenter: Jordan FIshman
Affidavit:
Certified
Director Name: Dr. Vu Nguyen
Author Category: Resident Plastic Surgery
Presentation Category: Clinical
Abstract Category: Hand
Background: Many surgeons express a preference to perform routine, outpatient surgeries at specific institutions. This preference is more often based upon subjective and anecdotal experiences rather than objective data. To test the validity of these preferences, we studied the difference in operative times between similar cases at two different institutions.
Methods: A retrospective chart review of routine, outpatient hand cases performed by a single surgeon was conducted at two institutions: Montefiore University Hospital(MUH) and the Veterans Affairs Hospital – Pittsburgh(VA). Three distinct case types were collected: carpal tunnel release, cubital tunnel release, and unilateral carpal and cubital tunnel release. Cases were excluded if there were additional procedures or procedural variants that could not be studied across institutions (ulnar nerve transposition, endoscopic carpal tunnel release, carpal tunnel release with a hypothenar fat flap, etc.). Total operative times and case times were recorded and compared.
Results: Both total operative times and case times were lower at the VA hospital compared with those at MUH. There was no significant difference between the ratio of case time to operative time at the two institutions.
Conclusion: Operative and total case times are lower at the VA hospital compared with MUH. Additionally, the percentage of case time to OR time is similar across both institutions. This suggests that the operative time and the non-operative time per case is increased at MUH, which may be a result of decreased, OR staff comfort with these types of cases at MUH.
