Retrospective Evaluation of Return Visits to the Pediatric Emergency Departments

Aim: Formation of our regional data with the results obtained through determination of clinical and demographical characteristics of the patients who revisited the pediatric emergency department of a university hospital within five days is aimed.
Materials and Methods: Patients who were revisit to the pediatric emergency department within first five days were included in the study. Patients’ age, gender, admission complaints, admission seasons, admission timeframe, whether they admitted within or out of working hours were recorded.
Results: 654 (1.32%) patient revisited emergency department. When distribution of the patients by age groups was examined, it was observed that 415 were under 5 years old When distribution of revisits by working hours was examined, it was determined that 302 patients admitted out of working hours and during holidays, 291 patients were admitted most commonly at evening time.
Conclusion: When clinicians inform the parents in details during first visit about their child’s disease, course of the disease and when to revisit a hospital after discharge may be an effective way not only for prevention of redundant return visits, but also for prevention anxiety of the parents, as well as for reduction of medical errors and negative patient outcomes.