Operating Room Efficiency for General Anesthesia Cases in the Department of Ophthalmology in a Public Tertiary Hospital

Objective. To determine operating room efficiency for elective ophthalmologic surgeries requiring general anesthesia in a public tertiary institution based on standard efficiency parameters. Methods. Prospective observational cross-sectional study of randomly selected elective cases requiring general anesthesia from April 2019 to June 2019 in the Department of Ophthalmology of the Philippine General Hospital. A single third-party observer recorded operating room milestones from which efficiency parameters were determined and compared with local and international guidelines and efficiency benchmarks. Results. A total of fifty cases from the Retina, Plastic, Orbit, Glaucoma, and Motility services were observed. None started on the specified start time of 6:30 a.m., with surgeries starting an average of 52 ± 11.90 minutes after. Across subspecialties, median surgical preparation time was statistically significant (χ2: 12.01, p: 0.02), with the Retina and Orbit services having the most extended duration. Across age groups, pediatric cases had lower mean anesthesia preparation times (t: 2.15, df: 48, p: 0.04) and median trans-out lag times (χ2: 4.56, p: 0.03) than adults. Overall, more than 60% of cases reached targets for induction and surgical lag time. Turnaround for adult and pediatric patients was 75 ± 22.77 minutes and 71 ± 14.91 minutes, respectively. Benchmarking analysis showed that the first case on time, entry lag, and exit lag were below the 50th percentile while the room turnover time was above the 95th percentile. Conclusion. Ensuring efficiency requires a multidisciplinary team approach. This research can guide administrators in determining interventions to increase operating room efficiency.