Establishment of a pediatric surgery center: Increasing anesthetic efficiency

Study Objective: To examine whether the establishment of dedicated pediatri c 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 Roam Information System data (1991 to 1997), we examined whether the anesthesia-controlled time the tim e 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 i nduction decreased by 30% (p = 0.0007). Similarly the average length of eme rgence from anesthesia decreased by 42% (p = 0.01) and anesthesia-controlle d time decreased by 31 % (p = 0.0008). Of particular importance is the decr ease by 75% in the anesthesia-controlled time range (maximum-minimum). Conclusions: The establishment of dedicated pediatric ORs resulted in signi ficantly shorter anesthesia induction and emergence times. Furthermore, the decreased variability of anesthesia-controlled time may allow for better s cheduling of surgical eases and for better surgeon and patient satisfaction . (C) 1999 by Elsevier Science Inc.