title: Mean operating room times differ by 50% among hospitals in different countries for laparoscopic cholecystectomy and lung lobectomy.
abstract: We explored whether there were large differences in operating room (OR) times for two common procedures performed by multiple surgeons at each of several hospitals thousands of miles apart. Mean OR time, "wheels in" to "wheels out," for ten consecutive cases of each of laparoscopic cholecystectomy and lung lobectomy were obtained for each of ten hospitals in eight countries from their OR logs. After log transformation, the OR times were analyzed by analysis of variance. Mean OR times differed significantly among hospitals (P = 0.006, laparoscopic cholecystectomy; P < 0.001, lung lobectomy). The second longest average OR time was 50% longer than the second shortest average OR time for both laparoscopic cholecystectomy and lung lobectomy. Differences in OR times among the hospitals we studied were large enough to affect the productivity of OR nurses and anesthesia providers. Thus, international benchmarking studies to understand differences in OR times worldwide may be beneficial.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia, University of Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA. Franklin-Dexter@UIowa.edu
authors.forename: Franklin
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dexter
authors.forename: Melinda
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: Christoph B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Egger Halbeis
authors.forename: Christoph E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Halbeis
authors.forename: Riita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Marjamaa
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Marty
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: McIntosh
authors.forename: Yoshinori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakata
authors.forename: Kokila N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Thenuwara
authors.forename: Tomohiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sawa
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vigoda
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000758:Anesthesia / Q000592:standards; D017081:Cholecystectomy, Laparoscopic / Q000379:methods; D002983:Clinical Competence; D019049:Developed Countries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D009873:Operating Rooms / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011013:Pneumonectomy / Q000379:methods*; D013997:Time Factors