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The majority of children will develop an ear infection at some point in their lives, but the majority will be self-limiting or respond promptly to antibiotic treatment. Once ear discharge develops and fails to settle following treatment, continuing discharge may represent underlying pathology of the tympanic membrane such as a perforation or indicate the need for modification of the initial antibiotic treatment. In cases of chronic ear discharge it is vitally important that the ear drum can be seen clearly in order not to miss pathology such as cholesteatoma. Referral to an ear nose and throat specialist is indicated in cases where the ear discharge continues for a number of weeks or becomes recurrent.

Objective In the English speaking literature there is very little evidence demonstrating safe and effective tympanomastoid day case surgery in pediatric practice. At a time when there is ongoing pressure for trusts to meet financial government targets and our care provision revolves around a patient centred approach, could otolaryngologists perform more pediatric middle ear surgery on a day case basis? We report our experience with a series of 52 pediatric middle ear day cases. Method Prospective study from a London tertiary referral centre of 52 consecutive children undergoing tympanomastoid surgery. There were 6 categories of surgical procedure, ranging from myringoplasty to cochlear implantation. Post-operative recovery was monitored. The duration of anaesthesia was compared with the length of post-operative ward stay. Results The correlation co-efficient r = −0.2203, showing that there was no association between length of anaesthetic and duration of post-operative ward stay. Conclusions Despite minor post-operative problems including pain, bleeding, and nausea and vomiting all patients in this series were discharged on the day of surgery. For tympanoplasty our series adds weight to already available evidence. It is the first series showing that mastoid surgery, whether combined approach, traditional mastoidectomy or cochlear implantation can be performed safely as day cases in a pediatric population.

Objective: Children have traditionally been kept in hospital overnight after mastoid surgery, but evidence from the US in adults suggests that a substantial number of patients may be suitable for discharge on the day of surgery. We sought to ascertain the proportion of our children having mastoid operations between February 1994 and December 2000 who were suitable for same-day discharge. We also evaluated some of the factors that prevented discharge the same day. Methods: A standard proforma was used to record relevant data in 35 children (mean age 10 years 6 months) undergoing consecutive mastoid operations at Mayday University Hospital, London, UK. Operative findings, duration of anaesthesia and time back on ward were recorded as well as details regarding admission, follow-up findings and complications. A bed was booked preoperatively but there was intent to discharge the patient if feasible. Results: Nine out of twelve patients (75%) operated between 1998 and 2000 were suitable for discharge on the day of surgery. The pre-1998 discharge rate was 20%. Only one of the former group of patients underwent a modified radical mastoidectomy in comparison with ten such procedures pre-1998. There was a significant relationship between extent of surgery and in-patient admission. The outcomes of day-case mastoid surgery, in terms of complications rates and overall success rates, were comparable with surgery performed on an in-patient basis. Using correlation analysis, no relationship could be found between duration of anaesthesia and time of arrival back on the ward and in-patient admission. Conclusion: Children can undergo mastoid procedures safely and effectively on a day-case basis but should still have a bed booked pre-operatively as the majority will require admission. The main factor related to admission was the mastoid procedure performed. With improvements in surgical and anaesthetic techniques and other advances, operations such as atticotomy may become standard day-case procedures in paediatric patients.

Traditionally major ear surgery in children has been regarded as an in-patient procedure. Evidence from the USA for adults, however, concludes that it is both safe and effective to perform many major ear procedures as day cases. We have been carrying out major ear operations on children as day cases routinely for six years in a dedicated children’s day unit and examined our data to find out whether it was both safe and feasible to perform major ear surgery in children on a day-case basis. As our main outcome measure we used the rate of unplanned admissions.We found that the unplanned admission rate for surgery, excluding mastoid surgery, was 6.7 per cent and that procedures such as myringoplasty, ossiculoplasty, bilateral pinnaplasty, meatoplasty and tympanotomy with excision of cholesteatoma, were eminently suitable for day surgery.

(2002). Updating the Safety Defence Standards. Safety and Reliability: Vol. 22, The Markov Edition, pp. 51-51.