Articles
15 May 2025
Vol. 1 No. 1 (2025)

White spots

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Operating room management, urgent surgery, surgery scheduling problem
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Authors

Rosina Siciliano
rosinasiciliano2@gmail.com
https://orcid.org/0009-0001-5277-5014
Department of General and Emergency Surgery, M. Bufalini Hospital, Level 1 Trauma Center, Cesena, Italy.
Vanni Agnoletti
Anesthesia and Intensive Care Unit, AUSL Romagna, M. Bufalini Hospital, Cesena, Italy.
Chiara Rosato
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1957-8729
Anesthesia and Intensive Care Unit, AUSL Romagna, M. Bufalini Hospital, Cesena, Italy.
Francesca Bravi
Healthcare Administration, Santa Maria Delle Croci Hospital, Ravenna, Italy.
Yoram Kluger
Department of General Surgery, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel.
Carlo Vallicelli
Department of General and Emergency Surgery, M. Bufalini Hospital, Level 1 Trauma Center, Cesena, Italy.

Scheduling operating rooms (ORs) is a critical aspect of managing surgical patients, especially in Level 1 trauma hospitals. The management of surgical patients, both in elective and emergency settings, relies on planning and scheduling procedures to reduce cancellations, delays, and negative outcomes. Some authors have found that reserving capacity in all elective operating rooms improves responsiveness to emergencies, reduces overtime, and optimizes overall operating room utilization. This article aims to find a suitable arrangement for the multi-specialistic operating block of the “M. Bufalini” Hospital in Cesena, Level 1 Trauma Center, Italy. The proposal is to remove the OR dedicated to urgent surgery (US), keeping the one dedicated to emergency surgery (EM), and redeploy them in slots dedicated to elective activity, redefining them as “white spots”. This proposal requires extreme flexibility and adequate communication between surgical specialties.

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Citations

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White spots. (2025). Surgery in Geriatrics and Frailty, 1(1). https://www.sigaf.eu/site/article/view/17
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