40 years' work of a paediatric surgical ward.

The overall activity of the Surgical Ward of the Children's Department, University Medical School of Pécs, was analysed in the 40-year period of 1940-1980 in order to illustrate the rapid development in the surgical care of infants and children. A scoring system, based on the magnitude of surgical interventions and patient age, was worked out to prove this progress. The most remarkable feature of the development of paediatric surgery is that more skillful and time-consuming surgery is required in much younger patients. In order to meet the higher demands, the conditions of such a service should further be improved.