ORIGINAL ARTICLE Key words: Ambulatory surgical procedures;

Day-case inguinal herniotomy in Chinese children: retrospective study Objective. To review the results of day-case procedures performed for inguinal hernia or hernia-hydrocele complex in Chinese children. Design. Retrospective study. Setting. Day Surgery Centre of a district hospital, Hong Kong. Patients. Medical records of 255 consecutive paediatric patients admitted to the Day Surgery Centre for inguinal herniotomy between July 1993 and December 1997 were reviewed. A telephone survey was conducted to assess any long-term morbidity relating to the operation. Main outcome measures. Patient demographics, success of day-case herniotomy, short-term and long-term morbidity. Results. There were 230 boys and 25 girls with a mean age of 8.8 years (range, 3 months to 18 years). Seven patients had bilateral herniotomy for bilateral her-nia and 14 had circumcision for co-existing phimosis. Eight boys developed re