PROCTOLOGICAL OUTPATIENT SURGERY

Our experience during a 10-year period has shown that outpatient proctological surgery is safe and has a low complication rate given careful case selection. Two-thirds of all proctological surgical procedures may be performed ambulatorily, using local anesthesia or posterior perineal block in almost 90% of cases, more extensive anesthesia being necessary in only 10% of cases. Careful patient selection, optimal postoperative wound care and adequate postoperative analgesia are mandatory to obtain the patient's acceptance. Anorectal operations performed in the outpatient department with recovery at home are welltolerated by the patient, even better, it seems, than the same operation performed involving an overnight hospital stay. Day surgery should relieve patients' anxiety and result in a short postoperative recovery time at home and a prompt return to work. Outpatient surgery frees inpatient beds and may reduce the need for hospital expansion. It has positive effects on planning of overall health care. © 1992 Springer-Verlag.