Anesthesia in ambulatory minimally invasive surgery.

The increasing popularity of minimally invasive surgery has grown concurrently with the demand for ambulatory surgery. Standard outpatient procedures such as tubal ligation are now being joined by ambulatory laparoscopic cholecystectomy. In order for ambulatory minimally invasive surgery to succeed, patient selection must be appropriate, careful attention paid to the physiologic changes of pneumoperitoneum, and pain and nausea treated pre-emptively.