[Criteria for selection and contra-indications of ambulatory surgery]

Ambulatory surgery means to us the scheduled surgery and investigations carried out under various modes of anaesthesia in patients who are admitted in the morning and discharged in the evening. Now the strictness and guarantees required and the essential conditions of safety and efficiency can only be achieved if a number of selection criteria and contraindications are complied with. The authors first study the lesions for which ambulatory treatment is possible, as well as the criteria regarding both the patient and the attending physician responsible for the follow-up at home. Since a close co-operation between the anaesthesist and the surgeon proves to be essential, the criteria of anaesthesia must also be dealt with. The contraindications are connected to the type of surgery, to the type of anaesthesia, to the patient, to the patient's circle, to the medical team, and finally to the equipment and organization of the unit in which ambulatory surgery is performed. These many aspects of the problem are analyzed and discussed.