Clinical Research Directory

Inclusion Criteria: * Children aged 12 months and 16 years old * Children undergoing unplanned abdominal surgery, where the preoperative diagnosis was considered to be related to a non-traumatic bowel (including appendix), hepatobiliary, and/or splenic pathology. (Definitions - Unplanned is defined as non-elective (i.e. the patient presented requiring emergency or urgent intervention, either as a primary presentation or as a complication of previous surgery). Surgery is defined as a procedure undertaken by a surgeon in an operating theatre requiring the support of an anaesthetist. Any surgical approach (e.g. open, laparoscopic, robotic assisted etc) is acceptable.) Exclusion Criteria: * Patients / parents who do not provide consent. * Children \<12 months old on day of surgery * Elective procedures * Operations where the preoperative indication for surgery was considered to be traumatic, urological or gynaecological in origin * Organ transplants * Insertion/removal of dialysis catheters * Interventional radiology procedures * Caesarean sections * Herniotomies, if the procedure does not involve access to the intra-abdominal cavity.