Surgical team dynamics affect operative times, efficiency
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Key takeaways:
- Operative efficiency is associated with surgical team dynamics, such as staff turnover and surgeon-preferred vendors.
- Management of surgical team dynamics may improve cost-effectiveness and patient safety.
Published results showed surgical team dynamics, such as staff turnover and the presence of surgeon-preferred staff, may impact operative times and procedural efficiency.
Henry C. Cousins, MPhil, and colleagues retrospectively analyzed staff characteristics and operating times from 279 total hip arthroplasties and 362 total knee arthroplasties performed at a tertiary academic medical center by five surgeons from January 2018 to December 2018. Researchers analyzed the impact of intraoperative staff turnover, presence of surgical trainees and presence of surgeon-preferred staff on incision time, procedure time and room time.
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According to the study, turnover among circulating nurses was associated with an increase of 19.6 minutes of room time in THAs and 14 minutes of room time in TKAs. They also noted the presence of a surgeon-preferred vendor was associated with an increase of 26.3 minutes in procedure time for THAs and an increase of 29.6 minutes in procedure time for TKAs. However, researchers found the presence of a preferred anesthesiologist or surgical technician was associated with a decrease of 26.5 minutes of procedure time and 12.6 minutes of room time in TKAs.
“This study found that operative efficiency is associated with the dynamics of the surgical team, including turnover among specific staff, resident involvement and the presence of surgeon-preferred team members,” the researchers wrote in the study. “As hospitals refine OR guidelines and adopt technologies to reduce preventable errors, intentional and regimented management of surgical team dynamics and communication during turnover may represent a powerful and cost-effective tool for improving operative efficiency and patient safety simultaneously,” they concluded.
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