Waiting Time for Short-Stay Surgery in a Paediatric Surgery Department

AIM: The aim of this study was to assess the waiting time (WT) for a short-stay surgery and determine its possible determinant factors. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective study conducted in the Department of Paediatric Surgery at the National Hospital of Lamordé of Niamey, Niger. It included patients aged 0–15 years who benefitted from a short-stay surgery (24–48 h of hospitalisation) during a period of 19 months (1(st) January 2017 - 31(st) July 2018). Patient, diagnosis and surgical treatment data were gathered. WT was the time elapsed between the indication of a surgical operation and its realisation. The Kruskal–Wallis test was used with a threshold statistical significance of < 0.05. RESULTS: Short-stay surgery constituted 25.4% of all operating activities (n = 271). Inguinal or inguinoscrotal hernia was the most frequent pathology at 31.38% (n = 85). The mean WT was of 116.6 days (range: 4–491 days) and the median was 114 days. WT was greater than or equal to 3 months for 63.9% of the patients (n = 173). Based on pathology, the mean WT varied between 57.5 days (ovarian hernia) and 163.6 days (5.8 months) for epigastric hernia. A significantly longer WT was observed with the presence of a comorbidity (P = 0.0352) but was not associated with patient residence (P = 0.0951). CONCLUSION: A long WT for a short-stay surgery should be improved upon by different interventions with respect to the supply and demand of care and the setting of priorities.