ABSTRACT Objective: To identify pediatric caregivers' reactions in outpatient surgery settings. Methods: A quantitative descriptive/exploratory survey-based study involving application of a semi-structured questionnaire to 62 caregivers in two hospitals. Results: Most caregivers (88.7%) were mothers who submitted to preoperative fasting with their children. Nervousness, anxiety and concern were the most common feelings reported by caregivers on the day of the surgery. Conclusion: Medical instructions regarding preoperative procedures had significant positive impacts on patient care, and on patient and caregiver stress levels.
A total of 5,522 outpatient surgical procedures were performed at the Children's Hospital in Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies, between 1968 and 1973. This included 2,662 general surgical procedures. There were no deaths or major complications. Parents participated actively in the preoperative and postoperative care.
Outpatient surgery can be a safe, inexpensive, and effective means of health care delivery. It is of special value in developing countries with limited facilities for inpatient care.
Background: Patients admitted to hospital for surgery or acute medical illnesses have a high risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE). Today’s widespread use of low molecular weight heparins (LMWH) for VTE prophylaxis is supposed to have reduced VTE rates substantially. However, data concerning the overall effectiveness of LMWH prophylaxis is sparse. Patients and methods: We prospectively studied all patients with symptomatic and objectively confirmed VTE seen in our hospital over a three year period. Event rates in different wards were analysed and compared. VTE prophylaxis with Enoxaparin was given to all patients at risk during their hospital stay. Results: A total of 50 464 inpatients were treated during the study period. 461 examinations were carried out for symptoms suggestive of VTE and yielded 89 positive results in 85 patients. Seventy eight patients were found to have deep vein thrombosis, 7 had pulmonary embolism, and 4 had both deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. The overall in hospital VTE event rate was 0.17%. The rate decreased during the study period from 0.22 in year one to 0,16 in year two and 0.13 % in year three. It ranged highest in neurologic and trauma patients (0.32%) and lowest (0.08%) in gynecology-obstetrics. Conclusions: With a simple and strictly applied regimen of prophylaxis with LMWH the overall rate of symptomatic VTE was very low in our hospitalized patients. Beside LMWH prophylaxis, shortening hospital stays and substantial improvements in surgical and anasthesia techniques achieved during the last decades probably play an essential role in decreasing VTE rates.
Caregivers' reactions to preoperative procedures in outpatient pediatric surgery
