New guidelines for day-case surgery published
The Association of Anaesthetists, British Association of Day Surgery and Association of Paediatric Anaesthetists have produced new guidelines for day-case surgery, published in the journal Anaesthesia, (May 2019 issue). The new guidelines, an update on previous guidance published by the Association of Anaesthetists in 2011, reflect the increase in the range and complexity of surgery performed and the development of enhanced recovery programmes.
Minimally invasive surgery is now well established, allowing more procedures to be performed on a wider range of patients. These developments ensure a shorter hospital stay which brings many benefits to patients including the reduced risk of hospital-acquired infection and a quicker recovery.
These new guidelines include key recommendations for the organisational and clinical management of anaesthesia for day-case surgery, including:
- The selection of patients for day surgery
- Social, medical and surgical factors in day surgery
- Pre-operative preparation
- Urgent cases
- Management and staffing
- Postoperative recovery and discharge
Dr Craig Bailey, lead author of the new guidelines, said: “In recent years there has been a move to reduce patient’s length of stay in hospital and improve the quality of postoperative recovery, as a result day surgery is now considered the default for most surgical procedures. These updated guidelines provide clinicians with timely and relevant information to ensure they and their patients receive high-quality day surgery anaesthetic outcomes.”