Ambulatory Surgical Centres (ASCs) are medical facilities that specialize in elective same-day or outpatient surgical procedures.

Ambulatory surgery centres (ASCs) are medical clinics that specialise in outpatient or same-day surgical operations. They do not provide emergency services. The term "ambulatory" is derived from the Latin verb ambulare, which meaning "to walk." It means that patients treated in these surgical centres do not require hospitalisation and are able to go home after the treatment. Surgicenters are another name for ambulatory surgical centres.

In recent years, there have also been major modifications in the types of surgical operations performed in ASCs. Many of the first ASCs were outpatient plastic surgery clinics. However, advancements in minimally invasive surgical techniques in other specialities resulted in the formation of ASCs for orthopaedic, dentistry, and ophthalmologic operations. According to the Federated Ambulatory Surgery Association (FASA), in 1995, gastroenterology accounted for only 10% of all procedures performed in ASCs, whereas plastic surgery accounted for 20%. These proportions shifted quickly. By 1998, only three years later, ophthalmology accounted for more procedures performed in ASCs than any other surgical specialty (26.8%), followed by gastroenterology (18.8%), orthopedic surgery (9.8%), gynecology (9.5%), plastic surgery (7.7%), and otolaryngology (6.9%). The remaining 20.6% included dental, urological, neurological, podiatric, and pain block procedures.

Ambulatory surgery centres are sometimes characterised as either hospital-affiliated or self-contained. Because some hospital-associated ASCs are housed in buildings that are several blocks distant from the main hospital, the term "freestanding" can be a little misleading.

Advantages of ASCs

Surgeons as well as patients tend to prefer ambulatory surgery centers for outpatient procedures for several reasons:

Convenience -There is much less administrative paperwork and “red tape” at an ambulatory surgical center compared to the admissions process at most hospitals. Patients also like the fact that they can leave an ASC relatively quickly after their surgery, which translates into less time lost from work.

Presence of family and friends - Whereas most hospitals keep patients recovering from a surgical procedure in separate rooms, in an ASC the patient can usually spend the recovery period after surgery with their loved ones.