[Pediatric heart surgery in a general hospital. Procedures and results in a 5 years' experience].

Purpose: To establish the routines for pediatric cardiac surgery in a general hospital, with a view to accurate diagnostic, a more precise intervention, a reduction of the risks and consequently an improvement of the results.

Methods: Three hundred and ninety surgeries were carried out in children with congenital heart disease. The method use highlighted noninvasive diagnosis, joint lodging, reduced period of hospitalization, care with the collection and preservation of blood, as well as the preference for fresh blood, techniques of monitoring, anesthesia, cardiopulmonary bypass and myocardial protection, concern with aesthetic incision for female patients and postoperative critical care.

Results: A high rate of early extubation was observed, with a significant reduction of the pulmonary complications resulting from prolonged mechanical ventilation. Low haemodynamic instability, arrhythmia and postoperative bleeding rates were uncommon. The low mortality rate and the average hospitalization period confirmed the good results.

Conclusion: With the establishment of routines for pediatric cardiac surgery, we observed a progressive improvement of the results, with low rates of morbidity and mortality in a general hospital.