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Trends in the use of minimally invasive surgery in children.

AIM
To determine trends in the scope of use of minimally invasive surgical (MIS) techniques in children as a predictor of future operative workload and operating theatre requirements.


METHOD
A retrospective review was conducted of all paediatric patients less than 16 years of age who underwent minimally invasive surgical procedures at Christchurch Hospital, New Zealand between 1996 and 2007.


RESULTS
There were 1693 children who received 1826 MIS procedures during a period in which 11,893 operative procedures were performed. MI case-weights, an indirect measure of the financial burden and technical difficulty of the procedures, represented 29% of the workload of the unit overall. There was a rapid rise of the number of MIS procedures from 1996 to 2000, but since then the scope and volume has changed little.


CONCLUSION
Use of MIS in children increased rapidly until 2000 since which time it has remained relatively constant. Recent additional applications have involved a small number of rare low-volume and more complex procedures. These observations may assist in the planning of theatre allocation requirements for MIS in children.