Outcome analysis of the impact of a pediatric surgeon in a regional hospital as an indicator of the importance of subspecialty trained surgeons

SummaryObjectivePediatric surgeons (PS) are specialists in surgical fields, however, not all regional hospitals have the service of a PS. The aim of this study was to analyze the outcome of pediatric surgeries in a regional hospital with and without a PS and to evaluate the need for PS in regional hospitals.MethodsStatistics from all pediatric surgeries between December 2002 and November 2004 were collected at Cheng Ching Hospital and divided into group I (without a PS) and group II (with a PS).ResultsThere were 365 pediatric surgeries in group I and 630 surgeries in group II. In group I, most surgeries were performed by general surgeons (GS, 37.5%) and urologists (GU, 35.9%), while a smaller portion were performed by otolaryngologists (ENT, 10.7%) and plastic surgeons (PLS, 7.4%). Gynecologists or colorectal, cardiovascular and orthopedic surgeons performed <5% of surgeries. In group II, a majority of operations were performed by a PS (54.4%), and significantly fewer surgeries were performed by GS (p<0.05); a significantly greater number were performed by PLS (p