Pediatric patients with multimorbidity (MM) are at increased risk of adverse perioperative outcomes. A new study published in the journal Pediatric Anesthesia examines the prevalence of MM and its association with same-day hospital admission following scheduled pediatric ambulatory surgery, which the researchers state has not been previously well described.
“Despite its prevalence, the effect of MM on outcomes after ambulatory surgery remains poorly understood,” write the researchers. “Hospital admission following a scheduled outpatient procedure is an important measure of perioperative quality and safety. We therefore aimed to estimate the prevalence of MM among children scheduled for elective ambulatory surgery and to evaluate its association with same-day hospital admission.”
The retrospective cohort study used the multicenter Pediatric Health Information System (PHIS) database (2010-2022) and included 1.6 million children aged two to 18 years who were undergoing elective, non-otolaryngologic ambulatory surgery.
The researchers found that children with MM had higher rates of same-day hospital admission following elective ambulatory surgery compared to their peers, and that the risk of admission grows with the number of chronic medical conditions the patient has. They urge same-day surgical facilities to account for MM as a factor when scheduling pediatric patients.
