Limiting factors for development of ambulatory breast surgery in the French hospital network

Introduction: Ambulatory breast surgery is not well developed in France. This is especially true for oncologic procedures,

Materials and methods: Between January 2005 and June 2006, we performed a retrospective evaluation of the factors thought to limit the development of this type of hospitalization.

Results: The principal limiting factors were distance restrictions (respect of the 100 km perimeter), the complexity of patient management for small breast tumors (several practitioners involved) and last, the non-motivating reimbursement policy.

Conclusion: By changing to the Anglo-American ("one day surgery", i.e. hospital stay less than 24 hours) or hybrid system (less than 12 hours+1 day surgery), ambulatory surgery could easily be offered to patients excluded by the current system (ambulatory department open less than 12 hours).