title: Emergency Operating Room Workload Pattern: A Single Center Experience from Southern Iran.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the epidemiology and pattern of emergency operating room workload in Nemazee hospital affiliated with Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  All surgical emergency operations which were performed in Nemazee hospital, Shiraz, Iran were collected over twelve months (September 2007 to September 2008). The data obtained included indications, presenting symptoms the services provided and the demographic information of the patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall number of recorded emergency operations in this cross sectional descriptive study was 3946, with males constituting 72% of the patients. The highest male/female ratio reported in trauma patients was 6.4:1 with the median age of 23 years, and the mean age of the operated patients was 27.8 years. Second to neurosurgery (19.64%) the general surgery was the busiest discipline in emergency operations (59.14%). Appendectomy (11.77%), double/triple lumen/central venous catheter insertion (9.4%), and fiber optic/rigid bronchoscopy (3.27%) were the commonest general surgical operations. Among trauma patients, neurotrauma was the commonest reason for operation (10%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Based on a new approach toward emergency operating room workload, in our country and centre, we showed that it is necessary to devote particular and individualized attention to the fields of agenda and hospital management of emergency operations. This is due to a high emergency operating room workload and its unique characteristics in our centre in contrast to other hospitals and departments. Although a decision making and operational strategy is recently seen to improve the quality and quantity of emergency services available to our patients, there is still a gap between present and optimal emergency healthcare which should be provided for our residents.
authors.affiliation: Trauma Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Shahram
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Paydar
authors.affiliation: Trauma Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Sedigheh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shokrollahi
authors.affiliation: Trauma Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Shahram
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jahanabadi
authors.affiliation: Trauma Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Fariborz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ghaffarpasand
authors.affiliation: Trauma Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Zahed
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Malekmohammadi
authors.affiliation: Student Research Committee, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Armin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Akbarzadeh
authors.affiliation: Trauma Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Shahram
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bolandparvaz
authors.affiliation: Trauma Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Hamid Reza
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Abbasi
keywords: Emergency Operating Room; Epidemiology; Workload