Current issues in pediatric ambulatory anesthesia.

This article summarizes current guidelines in pediatric ambulatory anesthesia and surgery. The reader is provided with our department's current outpatient guidelines at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the rationale behind them. Whenever possible, the differences in anesthetic management for the freestanding surgicenter will be discussed. Appropriate patient and procedure selection, preoperative assessment, intraoperative and postoperative considerations, and protocols for follow-up are discussed.