Assessment of quality indicators in pediatric major outpatient surgery. Influence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction: Major Outpatient Surgery (MOS) is an organizational and management model for surgical care that allows selected patients to be treated efficiently and safely. Our objective was to evaluate the quality of the different activities through standardized quality indicators, analyzing whether they have been modified during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Materials and methods: An observational and comparative descriptive study of the quality indicators (QI) of MOS in our Pediatric Surgery Department from 2019 to 2020 was carried out. In accordance with the International Association for Ambulatory Surgery (IAAS) and the recommendations of the Spanish Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs, we assessed the basic quality and the degree of family satisfaction of patients undergoing MOS.

Results: A total of 848 and 652 interventions were performed in 2019 and 2020, respectively, with a mean age of 6 and 7 years. 539 (ambulatory rate (AR) 63.6%) and 465 (AR 71.3%) MOS surgeries were conducted in 2019 and 2020. In 2019, the overall substitution rate (SR) was 96.8%, hospitalization rate (HR) was 1.67%, suspension rate was 5.94%, and readmission rate was 1.48%. In 2020, the overall IS was 98.3%, HR was 0.86%, suspension rate was 4.73%, and readmission rate was 1.72%. No differences were found in terms of satisfaction between 2020 and 2019.

Conclusions: QI allow us to know and analyze the performance and results of the different management units. In our department, the COVID-19 pandemic has not reduced the quality of CMA care.