Day surgery in Finland: a prospective cohort study of 14 day-surgery units

Day surgery is an established practice for elective operative care, and is considered safe and cost-effective in several procedures and for several patients. At present, day-surgery accounts for approximately 50% of elective surgery in Finland. The aim of this study was to prospectively describe the present situation at Finnish day-surgery units, focusing on the quality of care.

Fourteen large- to medium-sized day surgery and short-stay units were recruited, and all patient cases performed during a 2-month study period were registered and analyzed. Quality of care was assessed by analyzing the rates and reasons for overnight admission, readmission, reoperation, and cancellations. Satisfaction of care was inquired from day-surgery patients during a 2-week period. Head anesthesiologists were interviewed about functional policies.

Of 7915 reported cases, 84% were day surgery. Typically, several specialties were represented at the units, with orthopedics accounting for nearly 30% of all day-surgery procedures. Patient selection criteria were in line with the present-day recommendations, although the proportion of older patients and the ASA physical status 3 patients were still relatively low. The rate of unplanned overnight admissions was 5.9%. Return hospital visits were reported in 3.7% and readmissions in 0.7% of patients 1-28 days post-operatively. Patient satisfaction was high.

Along with the growing demand for day surgery, Finnish public hospitals have succeeded in providing good-quality care, and there still seems to be potential to increase the share of day surgery. Easily accessible benchmarking tools are needed for quality control and learning from peers.