Day care surgery

Abstract

In the modern  hospitals,  sophisticated anesthetic techniques along with the principle of  ambulating the  patient early in the post-operative period, allowing early orals, adequate post-operative analgesia, no or early removal of  drains and tubes  now being carried forward  by discharging the operated  patient  as soon as the critical period or immediate post-operative nursing needs have been met with,  has laid the foundation of day care surgery. The concept of day care surgery goes back to 1909 when   Dr. Nicoll, now considered as founder of modern ambulatory surgery, in his landmark article on the surgery of infancy (1) described a 10-year surgical experience at the outpatient clinic in the Glasgow   Pediatric Hospital in which 7392 surgeries including cleft lips, cleft palates, hernias and the like of these operations were performed on outpatient basis(1). This approach rested on the philosophy of letting the operated child back to their nursing mothers as soon as possible and constructive criticism of pediatric hospitalization. Currently, day care surgery is a norm than an exception.