Excerpted from "A Year of Health Hints"
365 Practical Ways to Feel Better and Live Longer
Can you have surgery without being admitted to a hospital?
Yes, and it's recommended in many cases. Ambulatory surgery
facilities or short-term centers, as they are sometimes called,
are usually freestanding facilities that perform a select group
of minor surgeries.
Procedures that best qualify for ambulatory centers:
Do not require
opening a primary body section like the chest or skull.
Do not require
blood transfusions.
Require very
little or no general anesthesia.
Do not require
specialized postoperative care.
Do not require
hours on the operating table.
Pose little risk
of complication or additional surgery.
The most common types of surgeries performed in an ambulatory
care center include, hernia repair, some plastic surgeries, tubal
ligation, dilatation and curettage (D and C), breast biopsy,
tonsillectomy, cataract removal, adenoidectomy, orthopedic
procedures (such as setting a broken bone), cystoscopy, varicose
vein surgery, and glaucoma procedures.
There are several important advantages of ambulatory or
outpatient surgery.
Hospitalization
poses the risks of exposure to infection (see Tip 358) and also
may keep patients
bedridden longer than
is necessary. Ambulatory surgery gets you in and out quickly.
The surgeries are
scheduled by appointment for patient convenience and are not like
hospital
morning surgery
schedules. The patient has a good deal of choice as to when the
surgery will occur.
Most people prefer
recuperating at home in their own beds to staying in a hospital.
Familiar
surroundings and the
comforts of home can be a more conducive environment in which to
recuperate than the
hectic schedules in many hospitals.
Medical bills are
much lower if you don't have to stay in a hospital overnight.