Is outpatient brain tumor surgery feasible in India?

The current trend in all fields of surgery is towards less invasive procedures with shorter hospital stays. The reasons for this change include convenience to patients, optimal resource utilization, and cost saving. Technological advances in neurosurgery, aided by improvements in anesthesia, have resulted in surgery that is faster, simpler, and safer with excellent perioperative recovery. As a result of improved outcomes, some centers are performing brain tumor surgery on an outpatient basis, wherein patients arrive at the hospital the morning of their procedure and leave the hospital the same evening, thus avoiding an overnight stay in the hospital. In addition to the medical benefits of the outpatient procedure, its impact on patient satisfaction is substantial. The economic benefits are extremely favorable for the patient, physician, as well as the hospital. In high volume centers, a day surgery program can exist alongside those for elective and emergency surgeries, providing another pathway for patient care. However, due to skepticism surrounding the medicolegal aspects, and how radical the concept at first sounds, these procedures have not gained widespread popularity. We provide an overview of outpatient brain tumor surgery in the western world, discussing the socioeconomic, medicolegal, and ethical issues related to its adaptability in a developing nation.