RESUMO
Day-case surgery has become an important component in the provision of surgical care in the Western countries. This study was done to introduce the concept of day-case surgery and assess the patients' satisfaction after day case general surgery in our set up with vast rural communities lacking medical facilities and no day-case surgery units in the hospitals. All those patients suitable for day-case surgery and who accepted day-case surgery for general surgical procedures in General Surgical 'A' unit of Ayub Teaching Hospital, Abbottabad were interviewed after the operation on follow up visits. Questions were asked about their satisfaction with day-case surgery. If they were not satisfied, the reasons for dissatisfaction were noted. Direct admissions and re-admissions after day-case surgery were recorded. Any complications in the postoperative period were also noted. The patient's preference for a similar procedure as day-case in future was also recorded. There were 122 patients in this study. 60[49%] were operated under general anesthesia and 62[51%] under local anesthesia. Fourty Nine [40%] patients were satisfied while 73[60%] were not satisfied with day-case surgery. Six [5%] patients were admitted directly after day-case surgery while 7[5.7%] patients were admitted after discharge. Complications occurred in 41[33.6%] patients at home. Wound complications and pain were the most common morbidity encountered by the patients. Twenty eight [23%] patients contacted a hospital or a doctor in the early postoperative period. Sixty two [51%] patients would prefer operation as in-patient while 74 [60.6%] would prefer an overnight stay after the operation next time. Conclusions: Patients satisfaction with day-case surgery in Ayub Teaching Hospital is not high. Short-stay surgery would be more appropriate in our set up