Operating room performance metrics of anesthesia and surgery duration: a descriptive analysis of emergency surgical cases

Abstract Efficient operating room (OR) time management is critical for healthcare quality, yet the precise relationships among key OR metrics remain underexplored. This study analyzed data from 3,423 patients treated in a Medical Center’s operating rooms between 2020 and 2022. Key time efficiency metrics of operating rooms included the surgery-to-anesthesia duration ratio and the operation preparation-to-surgery duration ratio. Analysis revealed a weak correlation (r = 0.10) between two performance metrics: the discrepancy between surgery and anesthesia duration, and the discrepancy between surgical preparation and actual surgery time. Significant differences were observed across anesthesia duration, surgery duration, and preparation duration when comparing cesarean sections to the overall sample. For cesarean sections specifically, the surgery-to-anesthesia duration ratio was significantly lower under combined spinal-epidural anesthesia (0.60) than under epidural anesthesia alone (0.65). Additionally, when comparing surgical levels II and III for cesarean sections by anesthesia method, significant differences emerged in both anesthesia and surgery durations. Operating room management should leverage these insights to optimize anesthesia protocols and surgical workflows, potentially reducing costly delays and improving patient throughput without compromising care quality.