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INTRODUCTION: Operative cancellations adversely affect patient health and impose resource strain on the healthcare system. Here, our objective was to describe neurosurgical cancellations at five Canadian academic institutions. METHODS: The Canadian Neurosurgery Research Collaborative performed a retrospective cohort study capturing neurosurgical procedure cancellation data at five Canadian academic centres, during the period between January 1, 2014 and December 31, 2018. Demographics, procedure type, reason for cancellation, admission status and case acuity were collected. Cancellation rates were compared on the basis of demographic data, procedural data and between centres. RESULTS: Overall, 7,734 cancellations were captured across five sites. Mean age of the aggregate cohort was 57.1 ± 17.2 years. The overall procedure cancellation rate was 18.2%. The five-year neurosurgical operative cancellation rate differed between Centre 1 and 2 (Centre 1: 25.9%; Centre 2: 13.0%, p = 0.008). Female patients less frequently experienced procedural cancellation. Elective, outpatient and spine procedures were more often cancelled. Reasons for cancellation included surgeon-related factors (28.2%), cancellation for a higher acuity case (23.9%), patient condition (17.2%), other factors (17.0%), resource availability (7.0%), operating room running late (6.4%) and anaesthesia-related (0.3%). When clustered, the reason for cancellation was patient-related in 17.2%, staffing-related in 28.5% and operational or resource-related in 54.3% of cases. CONCLUSIONS: Neurosurgical operative cancellations were common and most often related to operational or resource-related factors. Elective, outpatient and spine procedures were more often cancelled. These findings highlight areas for optimizing efficiency and targeted quality improvement initiatives.
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PURPOSE: One of the major advantages of a minimally invasive microdiscectomy is that when CSF leak occurs, there is minimal anatomic dead space for ongoing leakage following removal of the tubular retractor. However, there are no published reports that address the safety and long-term outcomes of same-day discharge for CSF leak after tubular microdiscectomy. METHODS: This is a retrospective compartive study of 30 patients with incidental durotomy during minimally invasive tubular microdiscectomy occurring between January 1, 2009 to August 31, 2023 at our institution. RESULTS: There were 16 patients (53%) admitted to hospital and 14 (47%) patients discharged home the same day following CSF leak. There were no differences in patient demographics between the two groups at baseline. Twenty-nine out of 30 (97%) of the patients had onlay duraplasty, and one (3%) patient was repaired using sutures through the tubular retractor. None were converted to an open approach. The hospitalized group was kept on bed rest overnight or for 24 h. The discharge group was kept on best rest for 2 h or mobilized immediately after surgery. No patients in either group required readmission or revision surgery for CSF leak. The average length of admission for the hospitalized group was 2.4 ± 4.0 days. CONCLUSION: Patients with CSF leak during minimally invasive tubular microdiscectomy can be safely discharged home the same day.