If you have ever been to the dentist to have an implant fitted, you may have noticed that the operation takes place in his office. What if this were to become more widespread in other specialties? This is the idea put forward by the Academy of Surgery. To better understand, we interviewed Dr. Guillaume Pourcher, who is a member.
Dermatologists and dentists are two types of specialists who operate on their patients in their offices. But this remains rare, for the moment. The French Academy of Surgery advocates for surgery to be performed in medical offices. Is this a good idea?
Experts gathered to discuss the issue
On Wednesday, October 23, the National Academy of Surgery brought together experts to discuss the issue. The idea would be to promote this practice in several specialties, such as hand surgery (carpal tunnel, for example). " It is the basis of surgery, at its origins, even if obviously since then, great advances have been made " recalls Dr. Guillaume Pourcher, digestive surgeon and member of the National Academy of Surgery. Read This Story Also: Storm and orange alert in 34 departments: advice from Dr. Gérald Kierzek to avoid accidents
For Jarek Paul, emergency physician and medical director of Judgeyourhealth, this is a sign of the failure of hospital management in France. " We have closed small local structures for supposedly low activity safety reasons and now we want to go back! This is yet another example of the incompetence and negligence of our health decision-makers for decades."
A way to reduce the cost of care and improve patient rehabilitation
According to Dr. Guillaume Pourcher, this idea could " suggest that it is an 'archaic' approach to surgery, but the idea is relevant, in reality." Why? Quite simply because it allows for optimizing costs and risk management for the patient. " It's a win-win system," assures the surgeon.
" There is no greater risk for a patient to be operated on in a medical office. On the contrary: an operation that only lasts a few hours will be less stressful, not to mention the fact that he will be able to return home immediately afterwards, since the operations in question will be performed under local anesthesiaanesthesia." And according to the specialist, the patient's rehabilitation will be faster. "This has been proven for outpatient surgeries: for the same operation, the patient recovers better when he returns home afterwards, compared to the hospitalized patient."
What specialties and surgeries will be affected?
For the moment, nothing has been enacted by the National Academy of Surgery. " This practice exists in orthopedics, in ophthalmology... " our expert continues. " However, it will be up to practitioners to determine which operations will be feasible or not. For my part, for example, as a digestive surgeon, I know that few operations will be able to be performed in this way."
Finally, Guillaume Pourcher recalls the necessary investment. " Obviously, it will be necessary to supervise practices and participate in the implementation of this approach. But in any case, it represents an interesting solution, both for the patient, but also in terms of cost reduction and risk management, for surgeons."