One surgical experience in regime of day hospital: considerations on the first one-hundred patients treated

The development of surgery in regime of day hospital proceeds swiftly, especially in Anglo-saxon countries, so that at the beginning of the second millennium it can be foreseen that in USA alone, 75% of all surgery will be carried out in this manner. From March 1st to September 1st 1994, 100 patients were submitted to operations in ODS (One Day Surgery). We had 3 reconversions into ordinary hospitalization (3%), 2 for social-economic reasons and one for headache and vomiting due to intolerance to local anesthetics. As has been seen we have encountered no important complications, all patients were satisfied. From the analysis of our experience we have deducted useful indications that oblige us to partially modify our attitude: we want to transform our service into a free standing center where the patient can undergo preoperative exams, anesthesiologic examinations and surgery on the same day; we are just about to verify the possibility, thanks to an accurate anamnesis, to not request preoperative routine exams in patients with ASA 1 and 2 physical status; to look for a possible asymptomatic crural hernia in patients that undergo inguinal hernioplasty; we do not submit patients to ODS if they do not have assistance at home; or if they live too far from our service.