The number of visits to outpatient surgical facilities in the United States rose about 67 percent between 1996 and 2006, from 20.8 million visits to 34.7 visits, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The jump in outpatient surgeries is largely attributed to a 300 percent increase in visits to freestanding surgery centers over the 10-year time period. The number of visits to hospital outpatient departments remained about the same at 19.9 million in 2006, but continued to outnumber visits to freestanding ASCs (14.9 million).
The information on outpatient surgical procedures was collected from 142 hospitals and 295 ASCs participating in the National Survey of Ambulatory Surgery. The CDC’s report, "Ambulatory Surgery in the United States, 2006," compares the data with the previous survey conducted in 1996.
Some of the 2006 findings include:
Number of procedures performed at outpatient surgery facilities: 57.1 million.
Most frequently performed procedures: endoscopy of the large intestine (5.8 million), endoscopy of the small intestine (3.5 million) and extraction of lens for cataracts (3.1 million).
Average time spent in the operating room: 61.7 minutes at HOPDs and 43.2 minutes at ASCs.
The full report is available here.
—Irene Tsikitas
