The risk of wound infection after inguinal incision in pediatric outpatient surgery.

To study the risk of wound infection in pediatric outpatients, two series of children operated on with an inguinal incision during a 5.2 year period in the same department, either in day-surgery or in standard hospitalization, are compared. It appears that the frequency of inguinal wound infection is lower for outpatients (1%; 18/1816) than for inpatients (4%; 17/427). This difference is due, on the one hand, to the way day-surgery hospitalization functions and, on the other hand, to the difference of population produced by the criteria for selection for admission in the Day-Surgery Unit.