Ambulatory surgery in a urology department. Analysis of the period 2003-2006
Carrión López, P.; Cortiñas Sáenz, M.; Fajardo, Mía.José.; Donate Moreno, Mía.José.; Pastor Navarro, Héctor.; Martínez Córcoles, Bín.; Ruíz Mondéjar, R.; Salinas Sánchez, A.; Virseda Rodríguez, J.Antonio.; Martínez Gómez, L.
Archivos espanoles de urologia 61(3): 365-370
2008
ISSN/ISBN: 0004-0614 PMID: 18581673 Document Number: 615719
When talking about day surgery we have to differentiate between minor and major ambulatory surgery. Ambulatory surgery enables the patient to stay in the hospital not more than a few hours, showing similar safety and efficacy than conventional surgery. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the results of an ambulatory surgery program. Descriptive retrospective study of the results of the Ambulatory Surgery in a Urology Department, including 4,185 patients in a four-year period, from January 1st 2003 to December 31st 2006. In the study period the global substitution rate was 83.6%. The hospital admission rate was 2.5%, most of which were early admissions. Major complications appeared in 26 patients (0.6%), being major bleeding the predominant one. Most complications were minor or mild, and pain at the site of the surgical wound was the most frequent problem found. The increase and continuous promotion of ambulatory surgery are more than justified. The high satisfaction among patients undergoing this type of surgery, with a very low number of complications registered, provides us with a valuable tool for health-care expenditure control.