Short-notice cancellations of laparoscopic permanent contraception

Objective: Permanent contraception through tubal sterilization is the preferred contraceptive method for 25% of women in the United States. Laparoscopic permanent contraception has an anecdotally high cancellation rate. Cancellations affect operating room utilization and may reflect barriers to care. We aimed to identify the short-notice cancellation (≤7 days from scheduled surgery) rate for laparoscopic permanent contraception, reasons for cancellation, and postcancellation outcomes.

Study design: We performed a retrospective chart review of patients aged 18 to 50 who canceled or no-showed a scheduled laparoscopic permanent contraception surgery between May 2016 and May 2019 at an academic tertiary care hospital and academic county hospital in Denver, Colorado. We reviewed electronic health records to determine the time between cancellation and surgery date and documented reasons for cancellation. We evaluated contraceptive methods used and pregnancies within a year after the canceled surgery.

Results: The overall surgery cancellation rate for scheduled laparoscopic permanent contraception was 22% (123 of 558). Short-notice cancellation occurred for 71.5% of patients and 32.5% (40 of 123) canceled same day. The most common reason for cancellation was patient choice (74%) followed by financial/insurance issues (11.4%). In the year after their canceled surgery, 22% (27 of 123) of patients obtained permanent contraception and 5.7% (7 of 123) had a subsequent pregnancy.

Conclusions: Among patients who canceled their laparoscopic permanent contraception, the vast majority canceled their surgery a week or less from their scheduled date. These short-notice cancellations may adversely affect both patients and the health care system. More research is needed on institutional policies to reduce laparoscopic permanent contraception cancellations while helping patients who want effective contraception find an option that works best for them.

Implications: Our retrospective cohort study found that laparoscopic permanent contraception surgeries have an overall high cancellation rate at both an academic tertiary and an academic county hospital, with most cancellations occurring less than 7 days prior to surgery. Future research will be used to reduce barriers to permanent contraception while developing clinical tools to reduce surgery cancellation rates.