Economic impact of prolonged tracheal extubation times on operating room time overall and for subgroups of surgeons: a historical cohort study
2025

Economic Impact of Prolonged Tracheal Extubation Times

Sample size: 182374 publication 10 minutes Evidence: high

Author Information

Author(s): Dexter Franklin, Marian Anil A., Epstein Richard H.

Primary Institution: University of Iowa

Hypothesis

Prolonged tracheal extubation times increase operating room time and costs.

Conclusion

Prolonged tracheal extubation times increase operating room time by approximately 13 minutes and are often associated with operating rooms that have workloads exceeding 8 hours.

Supporting Evidence

  • Prolonged extubations occurred in 23% of cases.
  • Mean operating room time was 13.3 minutes longer for cases with prolonged extubation.
  • 77% of prolonged extubations occurred in operating rooms with workloads exceeding 8 hours.

Takeaway

When doctors take longer to wake patients up after surgery, it makes the operating room busier and costs more money.

Methodology

Retrospective cohort study analyzing cases from a university hospital over a period from October 2011 to June 2023.

Potential Biases

Potential biases related to the specific practices and workflows of the surgeons involved.

Limitations

The study was limited to data from a single hospital, which may affect generalizability.

Participant Demographics

Included both adult and pediatric patients, with a mean patient age of 55 years.

Statistical Information

P-Value

<0.0001

Confidence Interval

12.8–13.7 min

Statistical Significance

p<0.0001

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1186/s12871-024-02862-6

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