Evaluation of Risk Factors for Prolonged Stay in Post Anaesthesia Care Unit (PACU) in a Tertiary Care Hospital of Saudia Arabia

Background Delayed discharges and transfers from PACU result in congestion and bottleneck at various stages along perioperative care. We did this retrospective cross-sectional study to evaluate the incidence and risk factors for prolonged length of stay (LOS) in PACU. This study was conducted at Security Forces Hospital, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Materials and methods We included patients who stayed postoperatively in PACU for more than 2 hours. We collected the data of patients having surgical procedures in main operation room from April 2019 to February 2020. We collected preoperative, operative and postoperative variables of all included patients. The reasons for prolonged LOS in PACU were recorded as documented in patient notes. Results There was a total of 206 prolonged stays in PACU of our hospital. Perioperative cardiovascular and respiratory adverse events accounted for most of cases of prolonged PACU stays followed by surgical reasons like bleeding and extended surgery. Conclusion The main reasons for prolonged stay in PACU were cardiovascular and respiratory adverse events in perioperative period.