Objective:

To analyze the factors attributable to the cancellation of surgeries of a third level health institution in the city of Valledupar, Cesar / Colombia (2017-2018).

Material and methods:

Descriptive, retrospective, cross-sectional study. Data from the hospital surgical unit adverse case file were collected for 6 surgical specialties.

Results:

They showed that in 2017 there was a surgical suspension of 4% of the total of scheduled surgeries that were (3339), for 2018 the rate was 3% with a total of scheduled surgeries (1733). The reason for the suspension for both periods was the factor related to the patient’s adverse conditions with 45.9 and 38.5% respectively. The specialty most affected for these cases was the specialty of general surgery with the same percentage value in both periods of 4%.

Conclusion:

The results give us an idea of the factors present for the cancellation of scheduled surgeries and the need to apply measures to guarantee patient safety.