OUTPATIENT ANESTHESIA

Ambulatory surgery and anesthesia continued to grow and develop over the last few years: Longer lasting and more complex diagnostic and therapeutic procedures are being performed on an outpatient basis. In addition, outpatient procedures, being less disruptive to the patient's everyday life, are of potential benefit especially for children and elderly patients. The proper selection and evaluation of these patients from the anesthesiological and surgical points of view are very important with regard to successful ambulatory interventions. The preoperative assessment is obviously essential. Good communication and teamwork between anesthesiologists, surgeons and admitting doctors are necessary. Patients should be informed early, i.e. before the day of operation, about the planned procedures (fasting periods, adult person necessary to accompany the patient home, etc.), and their written consent should be there. During the preoperative personal interview, the anesthesiologist identifies risk factors which may influence the management and outcome of the anesthetic procedure. Outpatients profit from a short-acting anxiolytic and sedative premedication before entering the operation room. The choice of the anesthetic procedure itself is made individually. An adequate intra- and postoperative monitoring is essential. A checklist with exact discharge criteria is helpful in practice.