ambulant

Ambulant is an English adjective derived from the Latin ambulare, meaning “to walk.” In medical and clinical contexts, ambulant describes a person who is able to walk and move about without being bedridden. It is used to distinguish mobile patients from those who are non-ambulant or bedridden, and it can appear in patient assessments, discharge planning, and medical notes.

The term is also linked to ambulatory care and related facilities. Ambulatory care refers to medical services provided on an outpatient basis, where patients do not require an overnight hospital stay. Ambulatory surgery, or outpatient surgery, denotes procedures conducted with same-day discharge. In clinical documentation, ambulant status helps indicate a patient’s mobility level and potential needs for assistance or mobility aids during treatment or rehabilitation.

Usage varies by variant of English. In British medical language, ambulant is a common term in notes and records. In American English, ambulatory is more widely used for describing outpatient services and settings, though ambulant can still appear in clinical notes to describe a patient’s mobility.

Etymology-wise, ambulant comes from Latin ambullare/ambulare, meaning to walk. While related to ambulatory, the two terms overlap but are not always interchangeable; ambulant emphasizes the ability to walk, while ambulatory more broadly describes walking-related services, settings, or movements.