Dissecting the Myths of Day Surgery: The Anaesthetist's View

Although day surgery is now well established, its practice varies enormously between various parts of the country and even between different practitioners (Audit Commission 2001). Some of these differences may be explained by a number of lingering myths which persist from the earlier, pioneering days of day surgery. The purpose of this short review is to discuss some of these myths from an anaesthetist's perspective and to try to dispel them using the available evidence.