Day-case surgery in children under 2 years of age: experience in a district general hospital and survey of parental satisfaction.
One surgeon's experience of day-case paediatric surgery in a population aged less than 2 years at a district general hospital is reported. During a 6-year period from 1989 to 1994, 82 day-case operations were performed in 79 infants and young children. All children were managed by a multidisciplinary team including surgeon, paediatric anaesthetist and paediatric nurses. There was no mortality and minimal morbidity. A telephone survey of parents enquiring into satisfaction with all aspects of pre-, peri-, and post-operative care revealed that the procedures are well-accepted. The survey also showed that there was no increased utilization of primary health care professionals when day-case surgery is performed in this young age group. We conclude that paediatric day-case surgery is safe and well-tolerated by both infants and parents and is suitable for performance in non-specialist centres provided a team approach is adopted.
Stiff
G
G
Department of Surgery, East Glamorgan NHS Trust, Wales, UK.
Haray
P N
PN
Chilcott
M
M
Williams
I
I
Watkins
G
G
Foster
M E
ME
D000556:Ambulatory Surgical Procedures; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D005260:Female; D006767:Hospitals, District; D006769:Hospitals, General; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008485:Medical Audit; D010290:Parents; D010348:Patient Care Team