Efficacy of tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy as an outpatient procedure: a preliminary report.

One of the recent trends in medical practice has been the use of ambulatory surgery for a substantial number of surgical procedures. A prospective evaluation of tonsillectomy and tonsillectomy with adenoidectomy as outpatient procedures at the Children's Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati, OH, is reported. Patients who were felt to be inappropriate candidates for adenotonsillectomies as outpatients included patients under 3 years of age, patients who lived more than one hour from the hospital and patients who demonstrated obstructive sleep apnea or who had other significant medical problems. A review of this 9-month experience indicates that outpatient surgery for adenotonsillectomy is both safe and cost-effective in most circumstances. In an analysis of complications requiring readmission to the hospital (bleeding, dehydration, poor social situation), patients who had their original surgery performed on an ambulatory basis had no more complications than patients who were hospitalized following their surgery. Excluding the professional fees for the surgeon and anesthesiologist, a savings of approximately 50% can be expected from the performance of a tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy on an outpatient basis.