I guess you could call it radical repotting. Most repotting that I do consists of lifting the plant out of its current pot and dropping it (root ball intact) into a new larger pot with more soil. Soil replacement requires that you break up the root ball and release the media, then repot will all new soil... this is an attractive option for plants that have been in the same pot for many years. It can really reinvigorate some plants, perhaps no surprise. But there are also plants with sensitive roots which don't enjoy being manhandled, and I guess you kind of have to learn them by experience. I would not make a general practice of this with plants you don't know too well.
When in doubt with the succulents that I grow, I give plants a few days after this sort of radical repotting to heal before I water them. The idea there is to give the roots time to recover before they are inundated with dirty water (otherwise there's a higher risk of rot).
