Are patients who are on medications for psychiatric diseases (e.g., bipolar disorder) appropriate for ambulatory surgery?
These patients should consult preoperatively with the anesthesiologist, who will review their medical histories, medications, and planned procedures. In general, as long as patients are clinically stable on their medical regimens, they can be safe candidates for ambulatory surgery, and the risk of stopping medications may be greater than the anticipated risks of anesthesia in combination with the medicines. There may be exceptions to this, as with MAO inhibitors for depression. The consulting anesthesiologist will review these risks with each individual patient to plan the safest anesthetic. Your medicines may cause some side effects in combination with anesthetic medicines, but these may be anticipated and should not prevent you from having surgery on an outpatient basis.
