Outpatient surgery, also known as
ambulatory surgery,
same-day surgery,
day case, or
day surgery, is
surgery that does not require an overnight
hospital stay. The term “
outpatient” arises from the fact that surgery patients may go home and do not need an overnight hospital bed. The purpose of outpatient surgery is to keep hospital costs down, as well as saving the patient time that would otherwise be wasted in the hospital.