Mukhtar Ahmad, Arshad Zafar, Samson Griffin, Sajjad Ahmad, Nasir Orakzai, Faisal Fayyaz.
An audit of patients satisfaction after adult day-case surgery at Ayub Teaching Hospital, Abbottabad.
J Ayub Med Coll Abottabad Jan ;17(1):22-5.

Background: 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. Methods: 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. Results: 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.

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