[Tonsillectomy--day surgery or hospitalization?].

Most current studies show that adenotonsillectomies can be performed safely as day case surgery. We wanted to evaluate patient acceptability of ambulatory surgery. A prospective study was undertaken in order to compare (adeno)tonsillectomies performed on an inpatient and outpatient basis. 104 patients underwent day surgery (adeno)tonsillectomy. 88 patients were treated as inpatients, but would have met the selection criteria for ambulatory surgery if an exception had been made in relation to travel distance. Tonsillectomy is an operation with high postoperative morbidity. Our study shows that patients undergoing day case surgery had better sleep, better oral intake and had less pain during the first postoperative night. The majority of the inpatients considered tonsillectomy performed as day case surgery less tolerable. With adequate information and patient selection, our study showed that most patients prefer day surgery. Questioned two weeks postoperatively, 92% of the patients preferred tonsillectomy performed as a day case procedure. Use of day surgery may improve health care efficiency. At the same time, it may improve quality of care for the patients.