Short-Acting Anesthetics Reduce Recovery Time.

• Position: Recovery time from surgery has been reduced - Brief Article

New anesthetic agents and improved surgical techniques enable many patients to wake up and recover from anesthesia in a fraction of the time of traditional medications. This means more patients are able to bypass the recovery room safely, indicates Jeffrey L. Apfelbaum, vice chair of anesthesiology and critical care medicine at the University of Chicago (Ill.).

These recent medical strides have made it safe for some types of surgery, even complex procedures, to take place in doctors' offices, he points out. An estimated seven-10% of surgery is already being performed in office settings, and the trend is growing. Office-based surgery is also being fueled by anesthesiologists' ability to deliver comprehensive, state-of-the-art care in office settings without compromising patient safety and comfort in any way.

"As with outpatient surgery, office-based surgery began with minor procedures such as the removal of moles, but is quickly progressing to major procedures, including gall bladder removals, breast augmentation surgery, and pacemaker placements." It is...