Eye Operations Most Common Outpatient Surgical Procedures

AHRQ News and Numbers

Release date: March 07, 2007

Cataract and lens surgery were the most common procedures performed in outpatient surgery centers in 2003, according to the latest News and Numbers release from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

AHRQ found that:

• Of the 431,000 cataract operations and lens procedures undertaken in 2003, 99.6 percent were performed in ambulatory surgery centers, making them the leading type of outpatient surgery.
• Procedures involving the muscle and tendons, such as rotator cuff repair and exploratory hand surgery were the second-most common type. Of 246,000 procedures, 77.5 percent were performed in ambulatory surgery centers.
• Nearly 95 percent of the 186,000 tonsillectomies and adenoidectomies were done on an outpatient basis, making them the third-leading class of ambulatory procedures.
• Orthopedic procedures, such as the removal of inflamed joint tissue, were fourth. Of 166,000 such procedures, 82 percent were outpatient.
• Excision of knee cartilage was the fifth-most common type of ambulatory surgery. Nearly 98 percent of the 159,000 procedures were performed in ambulatory surgery centers.

This AHRQ News & Numbers summary is based on data from 17 States, collected in Ambulatory Surgery in U.S. Hospitals, 2003. The report uses statistics from the State Ambulatory Surgery Databases and State Inpatient Databases, which are maintained by AHRQ.

To speak with the author of this report, or for information from previous AHRQ News and Numbers summaries, contact Bob Isquith at Bob.Isquith@ahrq.hhs.gov or call (301) 427-1539.

Current as of March 2007

Internet Citation:

Eye Operations Most Common Outpatient Surgical Procedures. AHRQ News and Numbers, March 07, 2007. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/news/nn/nn030707.htm