Overlapping Surgery in Plastic Surgery: An Analysis of Patient Safety and Clinical Outcomes

Overlapping otolaryngologic surgery: Safety and efficacy

BACKGROUND

Surgical procedures scheduled staggered between two operating rooms increase efficiency by eliminating turnover time. However, the practice might increase the surgeon's fatigue. Overlapping surgery has been assumed to be safe because no critical portions of procedures are performed simultaneously in two rooms, but there is little evidence in the literature to support that assumption for otolaryngologic surgery, and there is no evidence comparing non-overlapping and overlapping surgical outcomes for a single surgeon with all confounding factors controlled.

METHODS

Retrospective cohort study that included a consecutive sample of adult subjects who underwent otolaryngologic laryngeal or otologic surgery between June 2013 and March 2016. All procedures were performed by the same surgical team and surgeon who had block time with 2-rooms every other week and 1-room on alternate weeks. The incidence of surgical complications was assessed in the perioperative period. Duration of surgery and time-in-room also were evaluated, as were surgical outcomes.

RESULTS

A total of 496 surgeries were assigned to either overlapping-surgery (n = 346) or non-overlapping-surgery (n = 150) cohorts. Overlapping-surgery was a significant predictor for increased time-in-room on multivariate analysis but was not a significant predictor for surgery duration. Rate of complications, hospital readmission, emergency department visit, reoperation, mortality, and patient satisfaction did not differ significantly between cohorts.

CONCLUSIONS

Overlapping surgery does not hinder patient safety or functional outcomes in patients undergoing otolaryngologic operations such as voice or ear surgery.

Analysis of Transurethral Resection of Bladder Tumor Efficiency Utilizing Nonprocedural Operating Room Times

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the contribution of nonprocedural operating room (OR) times to transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT) operative efficiency.

METHODS

Over a 24-month period, all nonprocedural OR times from TURBT surgeries performed at a single institution were prospectively collected. Nonprocedural times included: in-room to anesthesia release time, anesthesia release to cut time, and close to wheels out time. Procedural OR time was cut to close time. We also analyzed the impact of time of day on TURBT efficiency (morning vs afternoon). Comparisons between groups were made using the Wilcoxon rank sum test for continuous variables.

RESULTS

We identified 777 consecutive TURBT procedures from 2019 to 2020. The median total OR time was 63 minutes (interquartile range: 50-81 minutes). The nonprocedural time occupied a median of 49.4% of the total operating time (interquartile range: 38.9%-60.4%). Median anesthesia release to cut time was slower when 1 TURBT was performed a day compared to 2 or more (13 minutes vs 12 minutes, P = .04). Median close to wheels out time was faster when there was 1 TURBT in a day (7 minutes vs 8 minutes, P = .02). Median in-room to anesthesia release time was faster in the morning than it was in the afternoon (10 minutes vs 11 minutes, P = .02).

CONCLUSION

Nonprocedural times made up roughly half of the total TURBT operating time and should be considered in OR efficiency analyses. TURBT OR efficiency may be related to the number of TURBTs performed in a day as well as the time of day of TURBT start.

Impact of the Percentage of Overlapping Surgery on Patient Outcomes: A Retrospective Cohort Study of 87,000 Surgical Cases

OBJECTIVES

The primary objective of this study was to analyze the relationship of percentage of surgical overlap with patient outcomes to determine if a detrimental level of overlap exists.

BACKGROUND

Overlapping surgery is defined as 1 attending physician supervising 2 or more operative cases simultaneously, without the critical portions of the cases occurring concurrently. To date, no study has examined the relationship of percent overlap, or the percentage of 1 case that is spent overlapping with another, to outcomes, efficiency, safety, and complications.

METHODS

This study is a retrospective cohort study conducted at a large tertiary referral center. The primary outcomes of interest included operative duration, in-hospital mortality, 30-day readmission, and patient safety indicators (PSIs). The Cochran-Armitage test for trend was used to evaluate the outcomes of interest. P values of ≤0.05 were considered statistically significant.

RESULTS

A total of 87,426 cases were included in this study. There were 62,332 cases without overlap (Group 0), 10,514 cases with 1% to 25% overlap (Group 1), 5303 cases with 26% to 50% overlap (Group 2), 4296 cases with 51% to 75% overlap (Group 3), and 4981 cases with >75% overlap (Group 4). In-hospital mortality decreased as overlap increased ( Ptrend <0.0001). Operative time increased with increasing overlap ( Ptrend <0.0001) while readmission rates showed no statistical significance between groups ( Ptrend =0.5078). Rates of PSIs were lower for Groups 1, 2, and 3 (1.69%, 2.01%, and 2.08%) when compared to Group 0 (2.24%). Group 4 had the highest rate of PSIs at 2.35% ( P =0.0086).

CONCLUSION

Overlapping surgery was shown to have reduced in-hospital mortality and similar PSI and readmission rates when compared to nonoverlapping cases. Operative time was shown to increase in overlapping surgeries when compared to nonoverlapping surgeries. The results from this study indicate that the percentage of surgical overlap does not detrimentally affect most patient outcomes, especially with overlap of <75%.

Comparison of Patient Outcomes and Safety between Overlapping and Nonoverlapping Surgeries in Patients Undergoing Laparoscopic Common Bile Duct Exploration

PURPOSE

Overlapping surgery or double-booking is a vital yet disputed issue in healthcare field. However, safety of the overlapping surgery during laparoscopic common bile duct exploration (LCBDE) remains unclear. This study aimed to assess the clinical outcomes and safety of overlapping surgery during laparoscopic cholecystectomy and LCBDE for gallbladder and common bile duct stones (CBDS).

MATERIAL AND METHODS

This study retrospectively reviewed 2736 laparoscopic cholecystectomy and LCBDE surgeries during 2013-2020. One thousand, two hundred eighty patients underwent LCBDE through cystic duct, including 867 receiving overlapping procedures, while 1456 underwent LCBDE through laparoscopic choledochotomy (LC), including 981 who underwent overlapping procedures. Data regarding patient sex, age, body mass index, the American Society of Anesthesiology grade, comorbidities, preoperative liver function test, previous upper abdominal surgery, presence of acute cholecystitis, cholangitis, pancreatitis, or jaundice, common bile duct (CBD) or CBDS diameter, CBDS number, LCBDE operation time, procedure duration, length of stay, stone clearance, CBD closure methods, conversion to open surgery, and complications were collected.

RESULTS

Differences in demographics and clinical variables between both groups were not significant, and the unadjusted outcomes were comparable, except for the total procedure duration (transcystic: p < .001; LC: p < .001). After adjusting for demographics and clinical variables, overlapping surgery showed an extended total surgical procedure duration (transcystic: standardized coefficient = 0.084, p = .004; LC: standardized coefficient = 0.072, p = .015). Other effects of overlapping surgery were also comparable.

CONCLUSIONS

Overlapping surgery in laparoscopic cholecystectomy and LCBDE was safe at our institution. However, the association of patient outcomes with overlapping laparoscopic cholecystectomy and LCBDE should be further investigated.

Overlapping Urological Surgeries at a Tertiary Academic Center

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate whether the practice of procedure-time overlapping surgery (OS) is associated with inferior outcomes compared to nonoverlapping surgery (NOS) in urology, to address the paucity of data surrounding urologic surgeries to support or refute this practice.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We performed a retrospective review of all urological surgeries at a single tertiary-level academic center, Emory University Hospital, from July 2016 to July 2018. Patients who received OS were matched 1:2 to patients who had NOS. The primary outcomes were perioperative and postoperative complications and mortality.

RESULTS

We reviewed 8535 urological surgeries. In-room time overlap was seen in 50.5% of cases and procedure-time overlap in 7.4%. Eleven out of the 13 attending urologists performed OS. The average time in the operating room was greater for OS by an average of 14 minutes. The average operative time was greater for OS than NOS by 11 minutes, but this did not reach statistical significance. There was no significant difference between the cohorts for rate of blood transfusions, ICU stay, need for postoperative invasive procedures, length of postoperative hospital stay, discharge location, Emergency Room visits, hospital readmission rate, 30 and 90-day rates of postoperative complications, and mortality.

CONCLUSION

Procedure-time overlapping surgeries constituted a minority of urological cases. OS were associated with greater in-room time. We found no increased risk of perioperative or postoperative adverse outcomes in OS compared to matched NOS.