Elective surgery

Elective surgery or elective procedure (from the Latin: eligere, meaning to choose) is surgery that is scheduled in advance because it does not involve a medical emergency. Semi-elective surgery is a surgery that must be done to preserve the patient's life, but does not need to be performed immediately. Elective surgery or elective procedure (from the Latin: eligere, meaning to choose) is surgery that is scheduled in advance because it does not involve a medical emergency. Semi-elective surgery is a surgery that must be done to preserve the patient's life, but does not need to be performed immediately. By contrast, an urgent surgery is one that can wait until the patient is medically stable, but should generally be done within 2 days, and an emergency surgery is one that must be performed without delay; the patient has no choice other than immediate surgery, if they do not want to risk permanent disability or death. Most surgeries necessary for medical reasons are elective, that is, scheduled at a time to suit the surgeon, hospital, and patient. These include inguinal hernia surgery, cataract surgery, mastectomy for breast cancer, and the donation of a kidney by a living donor. Elective surgeries include all optional surgeries performed for non-medical reasons. Cosmetic surgery, such as a facelift, breast implants, liposuction, breast reduction, which are to subjectively improve a patient's physical appearance, but may in fact make appearance and health worse. LASIK procedures can be elective, where a patient weighs the risks against increased quality of life expectations. LASIK is currently the top elective surgery in the United States. Preoperative carbohydrates may decrease amount of time spent in hospital recovering.