Optimal evidence-based perioperative blood glucose control in patients undergoing ambulatory surgical procedures remains controversial. Therefore, the Society for Ambulatory Anesthesia has developed a consensus statement on perioperative glycemic management in patients undergoing ambulatory surgery. A systematic review of the literature was conducted according the protocol recommended by the Cochrane Collaboration. The consensus panel used the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) system for providing suggestions. It was revealed that there is insufficient evidence to provide strong recommendations for the posed clinical questions. In the absence of high-quality evidence, recommendations were based on general principles of blood glucose control in diabetics, drug pharmacology, and data from inpatient surgical population, as well as clinical experience and judgment. In addition, areas of further research were also identified.

The use of video glasses and midazolam alone or in combination maintains baseline levels of anxiety at time of transport to the OR and prevents significantly increased anxiety during induction of anesthesia in children. Video glasses are not inferior to midazolam for preoperative anxiolysis and provide a safe, noninvasive, nonpharmacologic, and pleasant alternative.

The purpose of this study was to examine the frequency of return hospital visits after ambulatory surgery discharge and to identify any predictor variables for its occurrence. A retrospective review of hospital records for all patients returning to the same hospital within 30 days after ambulatory surgery was conducted. Data on return hospital visits that resulted in rehospitalization (as an inpatient or to the ambulatory surgery unit [ASU]) or treatment as an outpatient in the emergency room were recorded. A total of 6243 patients underwent ambulatory surgery over 12 consecutive months and 187 returned to the same hospital of which 1.3% were for complications. Of all the returns, 54% returned to the emergency room (ER) and 46% were rehospitalized as inpatients or to ASU. To identify factors associated with an increased likelihood of return, two case controls for each return visit were obtained from medical records of ambulatory surgical patients operated on during the same time period. Results of the multivariate analysis on the matched case controls identified urology as the only significant surgical service that predicted returns. (Odds ratio 27.87; confidence interval [CI] 3.78-74.86; P = 0.0002). A separate analysis of the most common ASU procedures performed identified two surgical procedures that predicted hospital return as compared with overall ambulatory surgery population: patients undergoing varicocelectomy and hydrocelectomy procedures were 8.3 times more likely to return (CI 2.090-23.75; P = 0.0042); patients undergoing dilation and curettage were three times as likely to return (CI 1.78-5.55; P = 0.0002). Bleeding was the most common reason for all hospital returns (41.5%), with 76.5% of these patients treated and discharged through the ER. The increased likelihood of return visits after urology procedures warrants further evaluation. As patients with bleeding were most likely to return to the ER and discharged, more effective pre- and postprocedure patient education may further reduce this occurrence. Better informing patients regarding the prognosis of bleeding, and advising them of medical alternatives, could reduce inappropriate patient returns to the ER.

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IMPORTANCE Increasingly complex surgical procedures are being performed in the outpatient setting, increasing the burden on patients and caregivers to manage their postoperative symptoms. Electronic patient-reported symptom tracking may reduce this burden and help patients distinguish between expected symptoms and those requiring intervention.OBJECTIVE To determine whether electronic symptom reporting with clinical alerts for 10 days after ambulatory cancer surgery is associated with a reduction in potentially avoidable urgent care visits, defined as a visit not leading to admission. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTSThis retrospective cohort study was conducted at the Josie Robertson Surgery Center (JRSC), Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center's ambulatory surgery center with overnight stay capacity from September 20, 2016, to December 31, 2018. Patients undergoing prostatectomy, nephrectomy, mastectomy with or without immediate reconstruction, hysterectomy, or thyroidectomy at the surgery center before (n = 4195) and after (n = 2970) implementation of the Recovery Tracker (RT) electronic postoperative symptom survey were included. Data analyses were conducted from February 1 to November 24, 2020.EXPOSURES A short electronic survey assessing symptoms daily for 10 days after surgery, administered via the patient portal, with alerts to the clinical team and follow-up for concerning responses. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURESThe main outcome was Memorial Sloan Kettering urgent care center visits with and without readmission and any readmission within 30 days after surgery. Nursing workload was measured by patient phone calls, emails, and secure messages as documented in the electronic medical record.RESULTS A total of 7165 patients were analyzed, including 4195 (median age, 53 [interquartile range (IQR), 44-63] years; 3490 women [83%]) from the pre-RT implementation period and 2970 (median age, 56 [IQR,[46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65] years; 2221 women [75%]) from after full implementation. On multivariable, intent-to-treat analysis by study period, having surgery in the post-RT period was associated with a 22% decrease in the odds of an urgent care center visit without readmission (OR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.60-1.00; P = .047). Having responded to at least 1 survey was associated with a 42% reduction in the odds of an urgent care center visit without readmission (OR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.39-0.87; P = .007). There was no change in the risk of admission. Nursing calls increased by a mean of 0.86 (95% CI, 0.75-0.98) calls per patient after RT implementation (P < .001), a 34% increase. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCEIn this cohort study, electronic symptom reporting with nursing follow-up for clinical alerts was associated with a reduction in potentially avoidable urgent care visits. The low risk and high benefit of this intervention suggest that these systems should be more broadly implemented.

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BACKGROUND: We describe the implementation of enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) programs designed to minimize postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) and pain and reduce opioid use in patients undergoing selected procedures at an ambulatory cancer surgery center. Key components of the ERAS included preoperative patient education regarding the postoperative course, liberal preoperative hydration, standardized PONV prophylaxis, appropriate intraoperative fluid management, and multimodal analgesia at all stages. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed data on patients who underwent mastectomy with or without immediate reconstruction, minimally invasive hysterectomy, thyroidectomy, or minimally invasive prostatectomy from the opening of our institution on January 2016 to December 2018. Data collected included use of total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA), rate of PONV rescue, time to first oral opioid, and total intraoperative and postoperative opioid consumption. Compliance with ERAS elements was determined for each service. Quality outcomes included time to first ambulation, postoperative length of stay (LOS), rate of reoperation, rate of transfer to acute care hospital, 30-day readmission, and urgent care visits ≤30 days. RESULTS: We analyzed 6781 ambulatory surgery cases (2965 mastectomies, 1099 hysterectomies, 680 thyroidectomies, and 1976 prostatectomies). PONV rescue decreased most appreciably for mastectomy (28% decrease; 95% confidence interval [CI], –36 to –22). TIVA use increased for both mastectomies (28%; 95% CI, 20-40) and hysterectomies (58%; 95% CI, 46-76). Total intraoperative opioid administration decreased over time across all procedures. Time to first oral opioid decreased for all surgeries; decreases ranged from 0.96 hours (95% CI, 2.1-1.4) for thyroidectomies to 3.3 hours (95% CI, 4.5 to –1.7) for hysterectomies. Total postoperative opioid consumption did not change by a clinically meaningful degree for any surgery. Compliance with ERAS measures was generally high but varied among surgeries. CONCLUSIONS: This quality improvement study demonstrates the feasibility of implementing ERAS at an ambulatory surgery center. However, the study did not include either a concurrent or preintervention control so that further studies are needed to assess whether there is an association between implementation of ERAS components and improvements in outcomes. Nevertheless, we provide benchmarking data on postoperative outcomes during the first 3 years of ERAS implementation. Our findings reflect progressive improvement achieved through continuous feedback and education of staff.

This study assessed the validity of a novel functional ability questionnaire that measured functional status after recovery from anesthesia and satisfaction 24 h after outpatient surgery. The content, construct, discriminant, and criterion (predictive) validities demonstrated the utility of this assessment instrument in the outpatient setting.