[Program for major outpatient surgery in dermatology].

Surgery is an integral part of dermatology practice, one which we use to treat diseases and conditions affecting the skin and soft tissues, including mucosas and skin appendages, whenever those conditions cannot be treated medically and therefore require surgical intervention. Dermatologic surgery comprises 4 general areas: oncologic, general, reconstructive, and cosmetic surgery. Major outpatient----or ambulatory----surgery is defined by the Spanish Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs as involving procedures or interventions of more or less complexity (regardless of type of anesthesia) after which the patient is discharged on the same day as surgery, following a variable period of monitoring and observation. This concept is also referred to by other names, such as surgery without admission or the 23-hour model. Advances in highly or moderately complex surgical procedures and in anesthetic techniques have contributed to the rapid growth of major ambulatory surgery and all indicators suggest that there is a trend toward ever wider application of this model. The related concept of fast tracking refers to an accelerated care process in which the surgical patient has a very short stay in a recovery unit. The evident benefits of ambulatory surgery are that the patient can return home on the day of surgery and will enjoy a faster recovery. This model also