surgery cancellation on the day of surgery: a report from an academic center in northern iran

Background: cancellations of elective scheduled surgeries on the intended day is a major problem for healthcare organizations with significant negative outcomes for patients and hospitals. this study aimed to investigate the rate and the reasons for day of surgery cancellations at an academic center in the north of iran.methods: this retrospective single center study was conducted at amir-al-momenin hospital, a referral and academic center in guilan, iran, during 2018-2022. a detailed review of a total of 187 cases canceled was performed. a responsible medical student filled out a checklist including type of surgery, patients' age, asa class and the cause of cancelation. results: from 41900 cases, 187 surgeries were canceled representing a cancelation rate of 0.46%. the most common reason for cancellation was change in the patient's clinical condition by 59.1%. the other reasons were 'patient refusal' 8%, 'lack of correct timing for elective surgeries' 7%, and 'technical problems in operating room facilities and equipment and unavailability of surgeon/surgeon's opinion' 5.3%. 'insufficient paraclinical tests' and 'lack of anesthesia pre-operative visits' 0.5% had the least frequency among the reasons of cancelations.conclusion: the rate of day of surgery cancelation was low (0.46%). the majority of causes of cancelations were due to patient-related issues, particularly changes in patients' clinical condition on the scheduled day of the operation. process improvements need to be considered continuously to further decrease in cancelation rate.