Establishment of a pediatric surgery center: increasing anesthetic efficiency

Study Objective: To examine whether the establishment of dedicated pediatric operating rooms (ORs) staffed exclusively by pediatric anesthesiologists has had a significant impact on anesthetic efficiency during surgery.

Study Design: Before and after design.

Setting: General and pediatric operating rooms at Yale-New Haven Hospital.

Measurements and Main Results: Using Operating Room Information System data (1991 to 1997), we examined whether the anesthesia-controlled time, the time it takes for induction and emergence of anesthesia of a selected surgical procedure (tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy), was affected by the change of practice from general to pediatric ORs. The average length of anesthesia induction decreased by 30% (p = 0.0007). Similarly, the average length of emergence from anesthesia decreased by 42% (p = 0.01) and anesthesia-controlled time decreased by 31% (p = 0.0008). Of particular importance is the decrease by 75% in the anesthesia-controlled time range (maximum-minimum).

Conclusions: The establishment of dedicated pediatric ORs resulted in significantly shorter anesthesia induction and emergence times. Furthermore, the decreased variability of anesthesia-controlled time may allow for better scheduling of surgical cases and for better surgeon and patient satisfaction.