ORIGINAL ARTICLES  ANESTHESIOLOGY Free access

Minerva Anestesiologica 2001 November;67(11):797-802

Copyright © 2009 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Ambulatory anesthesia for foot surgery

Arcioni R., Ronconi P., Mercieri M., Pelagalli L., Ciamarra G., Romanò S. *, Della Rocca M. **, Romano R. **

From the “La Sapienza” University, Rome, Italy **Foot Medical Hospital, Rome, Italy *Ancona University, Ancona, Italy

Ambulatory surgery has developed extensively over the past few years in most Western countries. The absence of a specific legislation in Italy creates a lack of trust in patients and interferes with the development of this discipline. The authors describe their experience in the organisation of an outpatient foot surgery centre over the past thirteen years, which is in constant expansion and currently performs about 300 operations every year. They report the criteria used to select patients, the organisation of the operating theatre, pre- and postoperative treatment and the anesthetic techniques used. Among the latter, they describe a new approach used to block the popliteal sciatic nerve. Their results show a high approval rate from the majority of treated patients. In the authors’ opinion this success is due to different factors, including patient selection and surgical procedures, the maintenance of constant quality standards similar to those in hospitals and the experience of outpatient anesthesia.