What are the causes of unexpected hospitalization following ambulatory surgery?

What are the causes of unexpected hospitalization following ambulatory surgery?

Although a patient may be scheduled to return home after surgery, admission may be required for a host of reasons. Approximately one quarter of the unexpected admissions following surgery are anesthesia-related. The remainder result from either medical or surgical compli-cating factors (Table 77.7)

Most ambulatory surgical facilities experience an unexpected hospital admission rate that ranges from less than 1% to approximately 4%. Unexpected hospitalization is greater with general anesthesia compared with local or regional anesthesia. As might be anticipated, the addi-tion of intravenous sedation to a local anesthetic increases the complication rate. Nausea and vomiting, dizziness, bronchospasm, and delayed emergence from anesthesia are common causes of anesthesia-related hospital admission.