Revising discharge criteria to exclude mandatory drinking and voiding, and allowing PACU bypass in select cases, can safely expedite ambulatory surgery discharge.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
May expedite ambulatory discharge by relaxing drinking/voiding criteria and allowing PACU bypass in select cases; leaves open need for prospective validation.
With the increase in numbers of surgical patients who are being treated on an ambulatory basis, it is important to develop reliable criteria to identify when patients are ready to go home. A scoring system may speed up discharge. Recent evidence suggests that drinking and voiding are not mandatory discharge criteria, and insisting on them will delay the discharge of patients unnecessarily. Recent research work indicates that certain cases can bypass the Post- Anesthesia Care Unit without compromising safety. Although major complications of ambulatory surgery are rare, pain, nausea, headache, dizziness, and drowsiness are still distressingly common.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Marshall et al. (1997) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 10 related papers. Consider them for comparative context: