What is considered outpatient surgery?
Have you heard the term “outpatient surgery” used to refer to your upcoming surgery? Here’s what you need to know about outpatient surgery and how it’s different from inpatient surgery.
What Is Outpatient Surgery?
Surgeries are classified in two types: inpatient and outpatient. A surgery is considered inpatient when the patient has to stay overnight or longer after having surgery at a hospital.
Inpatient surgery is generally reserved for more serious types of surgery where medical staff need to keep an eye on a patient’s condition in the days following a surgery.
Outpatient surgery is when a patient has to go to the hospital for surgery but can be discharged after that. With this type of surgery, you don’t have to worry about racking up a large hospital bill because of all the services you’re receiving like you do with inpatient surgery.
However, it’s important to note that many surgeries can only be inpatient because of certain factors.
Benefits of Outpatient Surgery
For many procedures, you can only get inpatient surgery. However, many people find there are some real benefits to outpatient procedures, which is why less invasive outpatient surgeries are becoming increasingly popular across the board.
Not only are outpatient procedures generally less invasive and less painful, they allow you to get back to your home so you can continue living your normal life to some degree.
The most important thing to remember about outpatient surgery is that there are still rules to follow to ensure the surgery goes smoothly, so you don’t want to resume normal activity at home unless your surgeon advises you to.