The goal of this research was to thoroughly examine the existing literature on the correlation between surgical team familiarity and measures of operating efficiency. The operating room (OR) is a high-stakes setting where various disciplines must coordinate well. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) standards were followed to conduct a systematic search of the PubMed database, and the search was prospectively registered in the National Institute of Health Research PROSPERO database (CRD 42020181046).
Operative efficiency, patient outcomes, expenses, and team satisfaction were some measured outcomes, with familiarity with the operating room serving as the exposure variable. Only 15 trials containing 24,340 procedures were included after screening 1,123 papers. No research incorporated more than 1 medical subspecialty or 1 surgical technique.
While there was consensus that more experienced teams reduced operative durations [standardized mean difference -0.51 (95% CI: -1.00, -0.02), P=0.04], reports of these teams’ effects on patient clinical outcomes, material waste, and team satisfaction were significantly more mixed. In addition to boosting operative efficiency, increasing team familiarity in the operating room has potential benefits in other areas as well. The diversity of the literature constrains further inferences, yet this area presents a fresh opportunity to boost OR efficiency.
