djamila-djahida batouche

Background and Objectives: The cancellation of elective surgery in children leads to costly waste for the institution and causes emotional stress for the child and his family. The objective of this work is to analyze the evolution of the last-minute cancellation rate of outpatient surgery in children, as an indicator of quality, its causes and to evaluate the effectiveness of the improvement program cancellations. Materials and methods: A prospective, mono-centric descriptive study that took place in the pediatric surgery department of the University Hospital Center (UHC) Abdelkader Hassani of Sidi-Bel-Abbès. The study spanned a period of 2 years (2013-2015) to identify cancellations in pediatric outpatient surgery. We recorded all admissions to the operating room, and cancellations. Reasons for cancellation were categorized into two broad categories: patient-related and facility-related cancellations. Results: Over a two-year period, 2487 patients were scheduled for elective surgery at the Pediatric Surgery Department of Sidi-Bel-Abbès University Hospital, of which 1162 children were eligible for outpatient surgery 46.7%, 159 interventions were canceled (13.7%). The average age of patients who have been canceled is 5 years. Patient reasons, administrative reasons accounted for respectively 58.5%, 41.5% on all cancellations. The cancellation concerned more than 61.8% urogenital surgery, 22.5% orthopedic surgery. Conclusion: Through the quality improvement program, significant reductions have been reported, the cancellation rate has dropped from 20.4% to 3.5%. If the rate has become lower compared to other rate in the world, the impact can be significant by improving institutional resources and waiting lists.