Introduction
The constant emphasis on reducing expenditure within the healthcare
system has led to an increase in outpatient procedures and surgeries
(1). Ambulatory procedures are an attractive option for both healthcare
institutions and patients due to low operative cost, favourable clinical
outcomes and increased patient satisfaction (2,3). The American Hospital
Association reported that the majority of procedures in the field of
otolaryngology are performed as outpatient procedures such as sinus
surgeries (4), thyroidectomy (5) and adenotonsillectomies (6)) for the
reasons mentioned above.
In current practice, majority of parotidectomies are performed as an
inpatient surgery due to drain insertion (7). Percutaneous drain is
often inserted during parotidectomies to drain the vascular rich supply
of the parotid and collect any post-incisional salivary leakage (7). The
majority of the drains are left for 24 hours, increasing hospital
admission by 1.5 days (8). Recently, several institutions have adapted
drainless outpatient parotidectomy and there is growing evidence in the
literature which suggests outpatient parotidectomy is safe and its
post-operative complication and hospital readmission rates are
comparable to inpatient parotidectomies (9-14).
Although the majority of studies have shown that the complication rates
and clinical outcomes of outpatient parotidectomies are similar to
inpatient parotidectomies, patients’ perspective and satisfaction on
outpatient parotidectomies have not yet been reported. In this study, we
aim to evaluate patients’ perspective and their satisfaction on
drainless outpatient parotidectomy.