ABSTRACT

The present study aims to show that one day thyroid surgery is economical and can be performed safely in selected patients.

We evaluated patients that had undergone thyroid surgery and been discharged from hospital one day later. Five hundred eighty patients were operated on in our center between January 1998 and December 2004. Four hundred eighty-six patients were included in this study.

Four hundred forty-seven (92%) patients were discharged from hospital one day after surgery. Thirty-nine patients could not be dischar-ged the day following surgery. Fifty patients developed complications and 21 complications prevented patients from being discharged from hospital within 24 h. Early reintervention was required in 11 patients (10 hypo-calcemia, 1 wound infection). No mortality occurred. Eight patients had complications that required reoperation.

The present study confirms that one-day thyroid surgery can be performed safely for selected patients