Outpatient surgical unit: critical review after the first year of operation.

Introduction: Outpatient surgery has been quickly accepted by many hospitals, showing a lot of advantages, both in the quality of health care and also in hospital management. Following this trend, our Hospital started operating an Outpatient Surgical Unit in May 1997. Objectives: Once we had reached our 'cruising speed', we thought it wise to make a critical review of our experience.