Paediatric day care anaesthesia--our first two years experience at the Paediatric Institute, Hospital Kuala Lumpur

The first two years anaesthetic experience of paediatric day care surgery is reviewed. Four hundred and three patients underwent 447 general surgical procedures. The mean age of the patients was 5.4 years with the youngest being 5 months old. The commonest procedures performed were herniotomy, circumcision, correction of hydrocoele and orchidopexy. The overall postoperative admission rare was 2.5%. No major complications were seen. Anaesthesia for paediatric day care surgery is safe provided patients are carefully selected and evaluated, appropriate anaesthetic management instituted and proper discharge criteria adhered to.