title: Audit of the Functioning of the Elective Neurosurgical Operation Theater in India: A Prospective Study and Review of Literature.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Knowledge about the utilization of the operation theater (OT) is essential to improve its efficiency. This study evaluated the neurosurgical operation theater utilization in a neurosciences teaching hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data collected included OT start time, delay in start, anesthesia induction time, surgical preparation time, anesthesia recovery time, operating time, time between cases, and theater closing time.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Five hundred thirty-seven surgeries were performed during the study period. The percentage of time used for anesthesia induction, actual surgical procedure, recovery from anesthesia, and theater preparation between the two cases were 8%, 70%, 6% and 5%, respectively. Fourteen percent of scheduled cases were cancelled. On 220 occasions (70.51%), theater was over-run. Late start contributed to loss of 8370 minutes (140 hours) of theater time.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study identified the proportion of time spent on each activity in the neurosurgical OT. This knowledge is likely to facilitate better planning of neurosurgical theater schedule and result in optimal utilization.
authors: Department of Neurosurgery, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience, Bangalore, India.
authors: Amrit Kumar
authors: AK
authors: Saikia
authors: Department of Neuroanaesthesia, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience, Bangalore, India.
authors: Kamath
authors: K
authors: Sriganesh
authors: Department of Neurosurgery, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience, Bangalore, India.
authors: Manish
authors: M
authors: Ranjan
authors: Senior Nursing Staff, Operation Theater Services, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience, Bangalore, India.
authors: Marie
authors: M
authors: Claire
authors: Department of Neuroanaesthesia, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience, Bangalore, India.
authors: Mohit
authors: M
authors: Mittal
authors: Department of Neurosurgery, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience, Bangalore, India. Electronic address: Paritosh2000@gmail.com.
authors: Paritosh
authors: P
authors: Pandey
mesh_terms: D017558:Elective Surgical Procedures; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008485:Medical Audit; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009873:Operating Rooms / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D061646:Operative Time; D019990:Perioperative Care; D011446:Prospective Studies; D017748:Time Management / Q000458:organization & administration*
keywords: Audit; Cancellation; Operation theater; Utilization