Series 13, No.
139. Ambulatory and Inpatient Procedures in the United
States, 1996. 124 pp. (PHS) 98-1798. GPO stock number 017-022-01438-6. View/download PDF 836 KB
The latest data on
surgical and nonsurgical procedures performed in the United States are now available from
the National Center for Health Statistics in a comprehensive report covering procedures
performed in both inpatient and ambulatory settings. The report presents the latest
findings from two components of the National Health Care Survey: The National Hospital
Discharge Survey and the National Survey of Ambulatory Surgery. The surveys are based on
samples of discharges from samples of hospitals and
freestanding ambulatory surgery facilities. This report presents data on surgical and
nonsurgical (for example, diagnostic procedures such as
endoscopies) procedures, including numbers and rates by sex, age, and geographic region.
Highlights of this report include these findings:
In 1996, an estimated 72
million surgical and nonsurgical procedures were performed on almost 40 million ambulatory
and inpatient discharges combined. The number of discharges with procedures performed on
an ambulatory and inpatient basis did not differ significantly--about 20 million each--but
hospital inpatients were likely to have more procedures performed during the hospital stay
than those utilizing an ambulatory facility.
Women were more likely than
men to have surgery. For ambulatory patients and hospital inpatients combined, women
accounted for 59 percent of discharges and 58 percent of procedures. The discharge rate
was 37 percent higher and the rate of procedures was 34 percent higher for females than
males.
Rates of discharges and
procedures increased with age. Children under 15 years of age had the lowest number of
procedures. Only 4.3 million procedures--6 percent of ambulatory and inpatient procedures
combined--were for children. Persons 45-64 had (18.1 million) or 25 percent of the total.
More than two-thirds of procedures were for persons 15-44 years age (24.2 million) and
those 65 years of age and over (25.3 million).
Looking at the patterns by
region in the United States, the South had the largest number of ambulatory and inpatient
procedures combined, 23.5 million, compared with 16.4 million in the Northeast, 16.7
million in the Midwest, and 15.3 million in the West.
The leading surgical and
nonsurgical procedures performed on ambulatory patients and inpatients combined were
arteriography and angiocardiography, endoscopy of small intestine, endoscopy of large
intestine, and extraction of lens. These four procedures were each done more than 2
million times in 1996.