title: Cardiac catheterization in infants and children can be an outpatient procedure.
abstract: Many cardiac catheterization procedures in infants and children can be performed on an outpatient basis. This has been the practice in a pediatric hospital for 18 years. Over the last 12 years 1,355 of 2,133 catheterization procedures were performed on an outpatient basis. Excluding newborns, 45 percent of infants under 1 year of age having catheterization procedures were studied as outpatients. After age 1 year, 83 percent of the patients were studied as outpatients. Many of the patients admitted to the hospital would have been suitable for outpatient study. There were no significant complications related to the outpatient program. The main advantage would seem to be a reduction in anxiety concerning the test for children and their parents.
mesh_terms: D000553:Ambulatory Care; D006328:Cardiac Catheterization; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric; D006782:Hospitals, Special; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D011292:Premedication