Pediatric patients are highly vulnerable to patient safety events in the hospital. This retrospective study of infants less than 6 months of age admitted for ambulatory surgery found that the recommended 2-hour postoperative monitoring did not affect patient safety.   

The authors analyzed National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) Pediatric data from 2012 through 2017 to explore racial differences in postsurgical complications among healthy children. Compared to white children, African American children were three times as likely to die within 30 days after surgery and were more likely to develop postoperative complications and serious adverse events. These results can help guide future research exploring the mechanisms underlying racial differences in postsurgical outcomes in children.