science

definition of outpatient

The word Ambulatory It is used in medicine to refer both to a level of primary health care and to the nature of a procedure that does not require the patient to remain hospitalized or confined to carry it out.

From the point of view of health care levels, medical services can be provided in institutions of varying complexity that together make up the health system. The basic level is made up of outpatient clinics, these can be rural or urban type depending on the number of inhabitants of the population where they are located, at a higher level of complexity there are outpatient clinics that may consist of various medical specialties as well such as the possibility of carrying out diagnostic procedures and studies.

The highest level of complexity, from the point of view of health institutions, corresponds to hospitals, these according to their size and orientation to a certain area of ​​health may have multiple specialties and subspecialties, likewise they will have the capacity to carry carry out various types of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures; They also have areas for the hospitalization of patients in general, intermediate and intensive care, observation rooms, burn rooms, isolation room, asthmatic room, minor surgery room, operating rooms, delivery room, emergency or emergency areas and morgue. Many hospitals are also headquarters for undergraduate and graduate studies in various medical specialties, which means that they also constitute academic bodies.

The term ambulatory also refers to those procedures that are carried out without the need to hospitalize or confine the patient. The vast majority of diagnostic studies such as imaging studies (radiography, tomography, ultrasound and resonance), functional tests and taking samples for biopsies are carried out during the day and once carried out the patient can be withdrawn.

Nowadays it is also possible that after treatment procedures such as some surgeries and after a short period of observation and recovery from anesthesia the patient can be discharged the same day, this has been possible due to the development of laparoscopic surgery techniques in which through minimal incisions, and the support with video and fiber optic equipment, minimally passive procedures can be carried out, such as arthroscopies of various joints, gynecological surgery for sterilization, resection of cysts and fibroids , as well as endometriosis treatment; Abdominal surgery also benefits from these procedures especially in the case of gallbladder surgery or cholecystectomy as well as in the treatment of appendicitis with appendectomy.

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