ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To show the results of our four-year experience since starting urologic procedures in the Ambulatory Surgery Unit in our hospital. The progressively increasing demand of surgery has showed up the limitations of sanitary resources. Ambulatory Surgery arises with the aim to optimize such resources, because it improves surgical procedures and rationalizes the increasing sanitary expenditures. METHODS: We study the results obtained after operating on 415 patients, showing inclusion criteria, relationship between surgical procedure and anesthetic drug employed, as well as discharge criteria. RESULTS: Among all patients operated on, 4 (11%) required hospital admission, and 12 presented with complications in the immediate postoperative period (3%), all of them minor. Satisfaction with treatment was around 95%. CONCLUSIONS: A great percentage of patients with urologic diseases who need surgery are candidates to be included in an ambulatory surgery program, without compromise of the quality of care or patient's satisfaction.
