Abstract
Objective: To notify the causes of cancellations of daily elective listed operations of thoracic division at our medical institute.
Methods: This is a retrospective study included 491 patients, of both sexes, aged 14-69 years, classified in terms of the American society of anesthesiologists as class I-III and scheduled for various thoracic operative surgical interventions at our thoracic division at King Hussein Hospital ( King Hussein Medical Centre ), during the period April 2011 - May 2012. Patients were evaluated for causes of cancellations and assessed for statistical significance regarding surgical or anesthetic impact.
Results: Of total of 12748 surgical interventions subjected to operation at King Hussein Hospital 491 cases (3.85%) listed for thoracic surgical interventions, forty four patients (8.96%) were cancelled. Anesthetist causes of cancellations were responsible for (50%) of total cancellations, while surgeon causes of cancellations were responsible for (22.7%) of total cancellations. Respiratory causes occupied one of the least frequent causes (0.02%) of these 44 cases.
Conclusions: Causes of cancellations in our division were attributed to medical and non-medical issues. These reasons were equal in incidence with least frequent to respiratory problems. Recognition of the frequent causes for postponement of operations will enhance theatre use by anticipating these issues and found solutions to overcome obstacles.

Key words: Thoracic surgery, cancellation, preoperative evaluation.