Appropriate use of the day care unit for rigid endoscopy of the upper aerodigestive tract

There is increasing pressure for more day surgery to be undertaken in the health service. In this retrospective study of 325 rigid upper aerodigestive tract endoscopies performed in the Day Care Unit of The Royal National Throat Nose and Ear Hospital, London, there were no post-discharge complications and only four patients required admission, none were, in our opinion, the direct result of day case rigid endoscopy. In our unit, the day case rate for microlaryngeal surgery is 44.8%, showing that rates significantly higher than published national rates of 17.1% (1993/1994) are achievable. We conclude that day case microlaryngeal surgery and diagnostic rigid endoscopy of the upper aerodigestive tract is safe if performed by suitably qualified staff in dedicated specialist units with patients selected according to existing day case criteria.