Introduction:

In the last decades, there have been changes in health services, standing out the inclusion of ambulatory major surgery. This mode of care is accompanied by several benefits: it minimally alters the way of life of the patient and his relatives, the patient receives more personal attention, his anxiety is attenuated, costs are reduced, among others.

Objective:

To evaluate an instrument (control sheet) that allows the safe discharge of the patient or to indicate if it should be transferred to another unit.

Material and methods:

Prospective study at the Medical Specialties Unit of Tijuana, Baja California, from August 1, 2007 to December 31, 2009. The individuals who accepted the ambulatory major surgery and who met the criteria set forth in Official Mexican Standard NOM-205- SSA1-2002 were considered. A score sheet, designed to rate the patient’s safe discharge, was used.

Results:

2,886 patients, 1,908 women and 978 men were included. In the surgical procedures, predominated laparoscopic cholecystectomy (754 cases) and resections/biopsies of soft tissue tumors (505 cases). 11.6% of the patients presented concomitant disease, with hypertension and diabetes mellitus being the most frequent. 34% of the patients were released between the first and fourth hours of admission to the recovery area, 36% were released between the fourth and eighth hours, and only 20% required more than eight hours to be released. There were no deaths. Twenty-nine patients required transfer to the hospital.

Conclusion:

The results are satisfactory. With the use of a data control sheet in the immediate postoperative period, it was possible to safely rate patients who may be discharged within a few hours after surgery.