Anesthesiologists and the time interval between cases in cardiac surgery.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether an association exists between individual anesthesiologists and nonpatient care time in the operating room (OR).


METHODS
Retrospective chart review.


METHODS
Cardiac surgery operating theatre in a University Hospital.


METHODS
312 elective coronary artery bypass procedures over 2 years.


RESULTS
The time interval between cases, as defined by the time between the first patient out and the second patient in, was compared. Six anesthesiologists, labelled 1 to 6, were involved in the 156 data points analyzed. The mean (+/- SD) time interval between cases, in minutes, for anesthesiologists 1 to 6 were, respectively: 24 +/- 9, 25 +/- 8, 27 +/- 8, 29 +/- 5, 30 +/- 4, 31 +/- 7. The difference among the anesthesiologists' mean time interval between cases was significant (p < 0.01). The mean time interval between cases was significantly different between anesthesiologists 1 and 6 (p < 0.01) and between anesthesiologists 2 and 6 (p < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
The impact of a shorter time interval between cases on OR efficiency remains unknown. Further education and investigation of this issue are warranted.
Melnik
H
H
Department of Anaesthesia, SMBD-Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Tessler
M J
MJ
Wahba
R M
RM
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000776:Anesthesiology; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D017558:Elective Surgical Procedures; D006801:Humans; D009873:Operating Rooms / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors