Main Articles

Endoscopic sinus surgery as day-case procedure

Y Bajaj^a1 c1, N Sethi^a1, S Carr^a1 and L C Knight^a1

^a1 Department of ENT, Leeds General Infirmary, UK

Abstract

Objective: Functional endoscopic sinus surgery is the mainstay of surgical treatment for chronic sinusitis. Day-case surgery has the advantage over in-patient surgery of being cost-effective and resource sparing. The objectives of this study were to assess our results for day-case functional endoscopic sinus surgery.

Methods: This was a retrospective case note review of day-case functional endoscopic sinus surgery procedures performed at Leeds General Infirmary from February 2004 to February 2007. We recorded patients' demographic data, operative details, post-operative course and follow-up results.

Results: A total of 105 day-case functional endoscopic sinus surgery procedures were included in the study. Patients' ages ranged from 16 to 93 years; 44 (41.9 per cent) were female and 61 (58.1 per cent) were male. Of these patients, 39 (37.1 per cent) had chronic sinusitis and the rest (66; 62.8 per cent) had nasal polyposis and sinusitis. Sixty-one patients (58.1 per cent) underwent surgery on the morning operating list, while the rest (44; 41.9 per cent) underwent surgery in the afternoon. Of the 105 patients, 24 (22.8 per cent) had undergone previous nasal surgery. The majority of patients (90/105; 85.7 per cent) were discharged on the same day as surgery. The only complication recorded in this study was bleeding, noted in seven patients (6.7 per cent). At the follow-up appointment, 90/105 (85.7 per cent) patients were satisfied with their post-operative results.

Conclusions: Day-case endoscopic sinus surgery can be performed safely as a day-case procedure. The most important factors for a successful outcome are correct patient selection, in terms of general health and social circumstances, and a dedicated day-case team.

(Accepted June 09 2008)

(Online publication September 02 2008)

Key words

• Paranasal Sinuses;
• Otorhinolaryngologic Surgical Procedures;
• Endoscopy;
• Ambulatory Surgical Procedures

Correspondence:

^c1 Address for correspondence: Mr Y Bajaj, 2 Tall Trees, Leeds LS17 7WA Fax: 01132663305 E-mail: ybajaj@hotmail.co.uk

Footnotes

Mr Y Bajaj takes responsibility for the integrity of the content of the paper.

Competing interests: None declared