DAY CASE SURGERY IN CHILDHOOD FROM THE PARENTS POINT-OF-VIEW

294 parents whose children underwent day case surgery received a questionnaire covering the topics postoperative analgesia, memory of pain, sleep patterns and assessment of the time spent in the hospital. A total of 80.6% of the questionnaires were returned. We were not able to recognize any indications of behavioral disturbances, in particular disturbances of sleep. The need for analgesics was surprisingly low following release from the hospital. However, even on the third postoperative day 16.8% of the children still had unpleasant or strong memories of the pain they had experienced. Improvement in this area might be achieved by the application of nerve blocks, possibly in combination with analgesics. Further possibilities for improvement exist with premedication. The long waiting periods between hospital admittance and commencement of surgery were found to be very unpleasant. During surgery psychological counseling of the parents should be made possible.