In the U.S. each health care facility, or department of anesthesia,
generally defines its own criteria, and it is often up the the
individual anesthesiologist on a per-case basis. It depends, for
instance, on whether the patient is going to be admitted to the
hospital versus discharged home.
In some PACUs this is specified by Aldrete score (0-10) where the
discharge criterion is typically a score of 9 or 10.
For discharge home after day surgery, the patient must demonstrate
substantial return of motor and sensory function, which generally
means the ability to stand & bear weight, without orthostatic
hypotension, as well as ability to void (in addition to the other
customary criteria such as stable vital signs, lack of nausea, control
of incisional pain, etc.).
For discharge to conventional inpatient nursing care, the criteria may
be more relaxed, such as the mere ability to lift the knees (i.e.,
flex the hips) while lying in the supine position. |
