Prevalence and Predictors of Cancellation of Elective Surgical Procedures at a Tertiary Hospital in Uganda: A Cross-Sectional Study

Table 2

Reasons for cancellation of elective procedures in surgical wards at Mulago Hospital, Uganda.

Variable	Frequency (n)
Health professional-related reasons
Surgeon with required expertise not available	2
Surgeon changed patient’s diagnosis	2
Anesthetist not available	21
Theatre nurse not available	6
Surgeon changed patient’s management plan	3
Patient-related reasons
Patient did not follow preoperative instructions	3
Patient declined to undergo the procedure	1
Patient had abnormal preoperative tests	7
Patient found to have undiagnosed congenital heart disease	1
Patient left the hospital	1
Facility-related reasons
Emergency case prioritized	9
Sterile instruments or consumables not available	5
Power outage before the procedure	2
Oxygen not available in the theatre	2
Required equipment broken or unavailable	6
Insufficient time in the theatre to complete the procedure by the required time (5:00 PM)	44
Impromptu theatre fumigation	4
Shortage of blood	6
No ambulance available for patient transfer to postoperative ward	2
No intensive care unit beds available	0