When access to the operating room for emergency surgery is delayed, it increases patient mortality rates, costs and length of stay, according to a study published in CMAJ.
Delayed OR access can increase mortality rates from 3.2 percent to 4.9 percent for patients who need emergency surgery — a 53 percent increase, according to the study.
Researchers looked at emergency noncardiac surgery at the Ottawa Hospital in Canada, a 900-bed academic medical center. They examined more than 15,000 cases, of which 18.6 percent, or 2,820, were delayed. They matched patients with and without delayed surgeries by a propensity score based on admission details, patient characteristics, physiological instability and surgical urgency. When matched by propensity, the researchers identified a significant association between OR delay and mortality rates, length of stay and costs.
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