What are the Most Common Outpatient Surgeries?
The volume of surgeries performed in Ambulatory Surgical Centers (ASCs) has tremendously increased over the past 10 years. One reason for this shift in surgical location is that the overall cost for a procedure performed at an ASC is typically lower than charged by a hospital (per an article in 2017 in the Bulletin of the American College of Surgeons). For this reason, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services(CMS) has continued to add procedures each year to its ASC Covered Procedures List (CPL) for its beneficiaries.
At the Specialty Surgical Center in Sparta, New Jersey, we perform a wide range of surgical procedures. Below is a description of three of the most common outpatient procedures performed in the US, along with the underlying issues necessitating the procedures.
Hip and Knee Arthroplasty
Accidents involving injury to the hip and knee joints are common across the age spectrum. Meanwhile, arthritis is an extremely frequent cause of hip and knee pain (especially in adults aged 50 and older). According to an article in Clinics in Geriatric Medicine, the following increases the risk of developing arthritis in these joints:
- Obesity;
- Previous joint injury;
- Anatomical factors (e.g.,joint alignment);
- Genetic predisposition
This article also notes that arthritis of a hip or knee joint can be lead to to disability (and the inability to function in the workforce). Arthroscopic surgery (involving the resurfacing of bone) is often prescribed to relieve joint pain. If some knee or hip joint cartilage remains, this may be all that is necessary. It can be performed as minimally-invasive surgery, and we perform joint arthroplasties at the Specialty Surgical Center.
Total hip and knee joint replacements in the US have also become more routine and less invasive since 1980. According to Arthroplasty Today, the number of total joint arthroplasties performed in the US is expected to increase by 2030 to around four million per year.
Rotator Cuff Repair
An Orthopedic Journal of Sports Medicine article concluded that rotator cuff tears are one of the most commonly-occuring injuries. Meanwhile, study findings published in 2018 revealed repair of a torn rotator cuff as the most frequently-performed outpatient surgery in the US. Notably, rotator cuff repairs performed at ASCs have increased by 272 percent over the past decade (per Becker’s ASC Review).
The five customary treatments (from least medically-intensive to most intensive) for a rotator cuff tear are as follows:
- Nonoperative (includes pain medication utilization and physical therapy).
- Partial repair (involves removing part of the injured area).
- Repair (open or arthroscopic surgical intervention).
- Reconstructive surgical intervention (i.e.,using an inserted patch or transferred tendon transfer to affix the tendon to bone).
- Total arthroplasty (invasive surgery in which the joint is totally replaced).
Myomectomy (Uterine Fibroid Removal)
Premenopausal women living with uterine fibroids often experience heavy menstrual flows and uterine pain. This benign condition is also linked to a higher risk of miscarriage. Laparoscopic myomectomies are minimally-invasive, but not all uterine fibroids can be removed by this approach. In comparison to hysterectomies, blood loss is often higher in invasive myomectomies (so a myomectomy patient may need to donate her own blood prior to invasive surgery in case a transfusion is needed).
For large fibroids or those involving the uterine wall, an open abdominal incision may be required. The Mayo Clinic website suggests that a woman may choose a myomectomy over a hysterectomy if a pregnancy is desired (or the woman prefers for some other reason not to have her uterus removed).
Your Surgery Site Option
From pain management to radiation oncology – and surgical procedures (e.g.,orthopedic, gynecological, and ENT) to improving spinal function – let the physician specialists at the Specialty Surgery Center be an adjunct to your primary healthcare providers.
Specialty Surgical Center is located in Sparta, New Jersey, and our staff consists of board certified surgeons and anesthesiologists performing procedures in orthopedics, sports medicine, spinal care, podiatry, urology, pain management, ENT, hand surgery, lithotripsy, brachytherapy, GYN, and laser surgery.
For more information about Specialty Surgical Center, call 973-940-3166 or visit our Contact Page.
The information contained in this article is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace or counter a physician’s advice or judgment. Please always consult your physician before taking any advice learned here or in any other educational medical material.