RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the proportion of surgical workload, in terms of time and number of procedures, devoted to chronic renal failure surgery in an urology and transplantation operating room. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Analysis of the operative activity of the urology and transplantation operating room of Amiens Hospital over a period of one year (2003), by evaluating the number of procedures and the operating room occupation time (time between entry and exit from the operating room) recorded on ecology forms completed for each operation. Procedures performed in this operating room comprise conventional adult urological surgery and chronic renal failure procedures (from creation of venous access sites for haemodialysis to treatment of complications of renal transplantation). RESULTS: Surgical management of chronic renal failure in the operating room represents 22.6% of all procedures and 30.1% of the operating room occupation time. 69% of the renal transplantation operating time and 95% of kidney harvesting operating time are performed on an oncall basis. CONCLUSION: Operative activity related to chronic renal failure represents almost one third of the total surgical workload of a department managing this disease. These data justify the allocation of additional surgical resources adapted to this activity that is growing in parallel to the number of patients with chronic renal failure.