• G Stiff, P N Haray, M Chilcott, I Williams, G Watkins, and M E Foster.
• Department of Surgery, East Glamorgan NHS Trust, Wales, UK.
• J R Coll Surg Edinb. 1996 Dec 1; 41 (6): 408-11.

AbstractOne 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.

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