Posada Surgery Center is dedicated to providing excellent patient education so that you understand our services before coming to your consultation or appointment. Please take a few minutes to read through some of our most frequently asked questions about what to expect at Posada Surgery Center. When you’re ready to learn more, please call us at 805-591-3344 or use the contact form to send an email.
Also known as ambulatory surgery, outpatient surgeries are procedures that do not require the patient to stay overnight in a medical facility. Surgeries of this type have become more common as medical, pain management, and anesthesia techniques have advanced in recent years. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly two-thirds of all operations are performed in outpatient facilities.
Contrary to what most people think, the actual length of a procedure is generally not the criteria doctors use when deciding whether or not a surgery can be performed on an outpatient basis. Rather, the decision is mostly associated with post-operative care and the length of the anesthesia and recovery. Given the medical advances of the past decade, this means more procedures than ever can be accomplished in an outpatient setting.
Outpatient surgeries can be performed in a variety of settings. They can take place at an independent, multi-specialty surgical center like Posada Surgery Center, or they can take place at a center that has partnered with a local hospital. Some procedures can easily be done in a physician’s office or clinic. Common procedures that are now routinely performed on an outpatient basis include eye cataract surgeries, cosmetic surgeries, less-invasive orthopedic repairs, hernia repairs, gallbladder and tonsil removals, and some OB-GYN procedures.
There are a variety of facility-specific advantages to receiving treatment at Posada Surgery Center–our top-of-the-line medical equipment and leading surgeons chief among them. Aside from these, there are many good reasons for choosing outpatient care over traditional inpatient surgery.
Outpatient surgeries can be performed on patients of all ages. A thorough medical evaluation should be given to all patients prior to surgery to determine whether outpatient surgery is appropriate. Your medical doctor will give you this evaluation, and if he or she refers you to Posada Surgery Center, it generally means you have been deemed fit for outpatient treatment.
In general, most patients who undergo outpatient surgeries can go home after one to four hours. This, however, depends on the type of surgical procedure performed, the length and type of anesthesia that was administered, the patient’s general condition, and more. Your anesthesiologist will provide the details and give you an idea of how long you can expect to be at Posada Surgery Center following your procedure. If there is a necessity for a patient to remain overnight–which happens occasionally–Posada Surgery Center has arrangements with local hospitals in order to facilitate overnight supervision.
Like patients after any surgery, those who undergo outpatient procedures often experience occasional nausea, headaches, body pains, and discomfort after their surgery. Your doctors will work with you to ensure your pain management regimen is adequate to deal with post-operative pain. For a few days following your surgery, you may experience fatigue and discomfort, depending on the type of surgical procedure performed. The benefit of outpatient procedures, however, is that you can recover in the comfort of your own home.
The pain management regimen that your doctor prescribed should be followed closely while you are recovering at home. Expect your nurses or your surgeon to follow up after your procedure to check on your recovery status.