TUESDAY, Jan. 13, 2004 (HealthDayNews) -- A patient's health status and where outpatient surgery takes place play a part in the outcome, claims a U.S. study in the January issue of the Archives of Surgery.
Currently, about 60 percent to 70 percent of all surgical procedures are performed in an outpatient setting such as a doctor's office or a specialized surgery center. More and more high-risk patients, including elderly people, are having outpatient surgeries.
This study examined the risk associated with 16 outpatient surgical procedures -- such as cataract removal, hernia repair, knee arthroscopy, prostate resection -- done on people aged 65 and older.
The researchers examined 564,267 outpatient surgeries. Of these, 360,780 were done at a hospital-based outpatient center, 175,288 were done at ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), and 28,199 were done in a doctor's office.
The study found there no deaths on the day of surgery at a doctor's office, four deaths the day of surgery at an ASC (2.3 deaths per 100,000 procedures), and nine deaths on the day of surgery at an outpatient hospital (2.5 deaths per 100,000 procedures).
The rate of death for seven days following outpatient surgery was 35 per 100,000 for procedures done at a doctor's office, 25 per 100,000 for surgeries at an ASC, and 50 per 100,000 for procedures at a hospital-based outpatient center.
Hospitalization rates following outpatient surgery also varied by surgical setting. Hospital admission within seven days of surgery was 9.08 per 1,000 outpatient procedures at a doctor's office, 8.41 per 1,000 outpatient procedures at an ASC, and 21 per 1,000 procedures at a hospital-based outpatient center.
The study also found older age, prior hospital stays within the previous six months and invasiveness of the surgical procedure increased the risk of death or hospitalization within seven days of outpatient surgery.
More information
Here's where you can learn more about outpatient surgery.
