Impact of surgical checklists on the time of surgical processes: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES: to analyze the impact of the use of checklists on the mean time of the operative processes of patients undergoing hip and knee arthroplasties. METHOD: cross-sectional and analytical research conducted between November/2020 and March/2022 with retrospective consultation in a simple random sample of 291 medical records, distributed in three periods (2010/2013/2016). Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis; p=0.05 values indicated significance. RESULTS: there was a reduction in the time of entry-exit from the operating room (p=0.002), surgery (p<0.001) and between the onset-anesthesia and the beginning-incision (p=0.021). There was no difference in time between patients with and without the use of checklists (p=0.05) in relation to the variables onset-anesthesia, onset-incision, time of anesthesia and surgery. CONCLUSION: the implementation of checklists potentially contributed to reduce the time of use of the operating room. The nonassociation of its use with the increase in the mean time of the processes in the operating room shows that its application does not interfere negatively in this indicator.