Anesthesiologists and the time interval between cases in cardiac surgery

Study Objective: To determine whether an association exists between individual anesthesiologists and nonpatient care time in the operating room (OR) Design: Retrospective chart review. Setting: Cardiac surgery operating theatre in a University Hospital. Patients: 312 elective coronary artery bypass procedures over 2 years. Measurements and Main Results: The time interval between cases, as defined by the time between the first patient out and the second patient in, was compared. Six anesthesiologists, labelled 1 to 6, were involved in the 156 data points analyzed. The mean (+/-SD) time interval between cases, in minutes, for anesthesiologists 1 to 6 were, respectively: 24 +/- 9, 25 +/- 8, 27 +/- 8, 29 +/- 5, 30 +/- 4, 31 +/- 7. The difference among the anesthesiologists' mean time interval Between cases was significant (p < 0.01). The mean time interval between cases was significantly different between anesthesiologists 1 and 6 (p < 0.01) and between anesthesiologists 2 and 6 (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The impact of a shorter time interval between cases on OR efficiency remains unknown. Further education and investigation of this issue are warranted. (C) 1998 by Elsevier Science Inc.