Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

At a glance: The STEP trials

A round-up of the STEP phase 3 clinical trials evaluating semaglutide for weight loss in people with overweight or obesity.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Surgical Endoscopy
Published in: Surgical Endoscopy 5/2014

01-05-2014

The composition of surgical teams in the operating room and its impact on surgical team performance in China

Authors: Wenjing He, Shenghao Ni, Gengzhen Chen, Xuewu Jiang, Bin Zheng

Published in: Surgical Endoscopy | Issue 5/2014

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

Previous studies on surgical team composition have shown that surgical team size had an independent impact on surgical performance in US and Canadian hospitals. We aimed to investigate the impact of team composition on surgical performance in two Chinese hospitals.

Methods

General surgery procedures performed from April 2011 to June 2012 were retrospectively reviewed to record the number of attendees in the operating room (OR) and the procedure time (PT).

Results

A total of 1,900 valid procedures, mostly laparoscopic, were performed during the study period. The mean PT was 90.5 min. On average, there were a total of 6 (range = 3–8) team members per procedure: 3 (range = 1–5) surgeons, 2 nurses, and 1 anesthesiologist. Unlike the data reported for the US and Canada, the number of nurses and anesthesiologists remained stable in most cases, whereas the number of surgeons differed by procedure. Multiple-regression analysis revealed that both the complexity of the operation and the team size significantly affected PT. When procedure complexity and patient condition were kept constant, adding one team member in our data analysis predicted an increase of 34.7 min in the PT.

Conclusion

The surgical team size has a measurable effect on PT. Aside from surgical complexity, the team composition and member stability affected PT in the OR. Optimizing surgical teams and developing a strategy to maintain team stability are of great importance for improving OR efficiency.
Literature
1.
Aggarwal R, Undre S, Moorthy K, Vincent C, Darzi A (2004) The simulated operating theatre: comprehensive training for surgical teams. Qual Saf Health Care 13:i27–i32PubMedCentralPubMedCrossRef
2.
Baker DP, Gustafson S, Beaubien J, Salas E, Barach P (2005) In: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (ed), Medical Teamwork and Patient Safety: The Evidence-based Relation. Literature Review. Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, AHRQ Publication No. 05-0053. Available at http://​www.​ahrq.​gov/​qual/​medteam/​. Accessed 1 Mar 2013
3.
Moorthy K, Munz Y, Adams S, Pandey V, Darzi A (2005) A human factors analysis of technical and team skills among surgical trainees during procedural simulations in a simulated operating theatre. Ann Surg 242:631–639PubMedCentralPubMedCrossRef
4.
Kenyon TA, Lenker MP, Bax TW, Swanstrom LL (1997) Cost and benefit of the trained laparoscopic team. A comparative study of a designated nursing team vs a nontrained team. Surg Endosc 11:812–814PubMedCrossRef
5.
de Leval MR, Carthey J, Wright DJ, Farewell VT, Reason JT (2000) Human factors and cardiac surgery: a multicenter study. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 119:661–672PubMedCrossRef
6.
Cassera MA, Zheng B, Martinec DV, Dunst CM, Swanstrom LL (2009) Surgical time independently affected by surgical team size. Am J Surg 198:216–222PubMedCrossRef
7.
Zheng B, Panton ON, Al-Tayeb TA (2012) Operative length independently affected by surgical team size: data from 2 Canadian hospitals. Can J Surg 55:371–376PubMedCentralPubMedCrossRef
8.
9.
10.
Thomas EJ, Sexton JB, Helmreich RL (2003) Discrepant attitudes about teamwork among critical care nurses and physicians. Crit Care Med 31:956–959PubMedCrossRef
11.
Xiao Y, Kim YJ, Gardner SD, Faraj S, MacKenzie CF (2006) Communication technology in trauma centers: a national survey. J Emerg Med 30:21–28PubMedCrossRef
12.
Gawande AA, Zinner MJ, Studdert DM, Brennan TA (2003) Analysis of errors reported by surgeons at three teaching hospitals. Surgery 133:614–621PubMedCrossRef
13.
14.
Carthey J, de Leval MR, Reason JT (2001) The human factor in cardiac surgery: errors and near misses in a high technology medical domain. Ann Thorac Surg 72:300–305PubMedCrossRef
15.
Low D, Walker I, Heitmiller ES (2012) Implementing checklists in the operating room. Pediatr Anesth 22:1025–1031CrossRef
16.
Stepaniak PS, Vrijland WW, de Quelerij M, de Vries G, Heij C (2010) Working with a fixed operating room team on consecutive similar cases and the effect on case duration and turnover time. Arch Surg 145:1165–1170PubMedCrossRef
17.
Zheng B, Swanstrom LL, Meneghetti A, Panton ON, Qayumi AK (2011) Quantifying surgeon’s contribution to team effectiveness on a mixed team with a junior surgeon. Surgery 149:761–765PubMedCrossRef
Metadata
Title
The composition of surgical teams in the operating room and its impact on surgical team performance in China
Authors
Wenjing He
Shenghao Ni
Gengzhen Chen
Xuewu Jiang
Bin Zheng
Publication date
01-05-2014
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Surgical Endoscopy / Issue 5/2014
Print ISSN: 0930-2794
Electronic ISSN: 1432-2218
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00464-013-3318-4

Other articles of this Issue 5/2014

Surgical Endoscopy 5/2014 Go to the issue

OriginalPaper

Comparison of the outcomes for laparoscopic gastrectomy performed by the same surgeon between a low-volume hospital and a high-volume center

OriginalPaper

The inulin hydrogen breath test predicts the quality of colonic preparation

OriginalPaper

Validation of a virtual reality-based robotic surgical skills curriculum

Letter to the Editor

Laparoscopic choledochotomy followed by primary duct closure for choledocholithiasis

Review

Endoscopic transluminal necrosectomy in necrotising pancreatitis: a systematic review

OriginalPaper

Screening colonoscopy in the initial workup of bariatric surgery patients: guidelines are needed