Same day surgery: is this the direction West Indian surgery should take? - abstract

ABSTRACT

A free standing, separate, self-contained same day surgery with 2 operating theatres and a 12-bed recovery room at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex came into use on August 20th, 1990. This paper describes the first 3 months' experience of this unit. General, paediatric, orthopaedic and plastic surgeons, together with anaesthetists, a head nurse, 5 registered nurses, 8 nursing assistants, 2 anaesthetic technicians, 2 clerks and 3 attendants comprise the personnel. Five hundred and eighteen (518) cases were done over a 3-month period for an average of 88 cases per theatre per month. The average for the gross operating time (from entry to exit of patient) was 74 minutes while the net operating time (from incision to final closure) was 37 minutes. Patients ranged in age from 4 months to 83 years with 135 (26 percent) under 11 years. General anaesthesia was used in 71 percent of cases, and local in 26.5 percent. Herniorrhaphy was the most common procedure (16 percent). The transfer rate was 2.8 percent but no major complications occurred post-operatively. Health care workers and patients have a high appreciation for same day surgery. It is strongly recommended as a possible solution to many of the problems facing patients and surgeons in the Caribbean region (AU)