• Nikki Mills, Brian J Anderson, Colin Barber, Julian White, Murali Mahadevan, Leslie Salkeld, Gavin Douglas, and Colin Brown.
• Department of Pediatric Otolaryngology, Auckland Children's Hospital, Park Road, Auckland, New Zealand.
• Int. J. Pediatr. Otorhinolaryngol. 2004 Nov 1; 68 (11): 1367-73.

ObjectiveThere is a controversy about day stay pediatric tonsillectomy in the UK and Australia. New Zealand has a similar health structure and we wished to compare day stay tonsillectomy from our hospital with those reported from other centers.MethodsWe performed a prospective audit of day stay tonsillectomy to determine conversion to hospital admission rate and the incidence of postoperative hemorrhage.ResultsThere were 4850 paediatric tonsillectomies performed with 80% of them as day stay procedures over a 9-year study period (1993-2002) in a university-affiliated tertiary children's hospital. The primary postoperative hemorrhage rate (within 24h of surgery) was 0.9% (CI 0.68-1.22%) and 83% occurred within the mandatory 4h postoperative observation period. Primary hemorrhage requiring re-operation to achieve hemostasis occurred in 18 children (0.37%, CI 0.2-0.54%). No child with a primary hemorrhage who presented after discharge following day stay surgery required re-operation or blood transfusion. Day stay surgery was planned in 4041 children and 4.7% (CI 4.1-5.4%) required conversion to hospital admission. Postoperative vomiting was the most common indication for conversion (2.65%, CI 2.2-3.1%), while hemorrhage contributed only 0.95% (CI 0.64-1.24%).ConclusionsThis study was performed in a health system similar to that of Australia and the UK. Complication and conversion rates are similar to those reported in North American centers. Pediatric day stay tonsillectomy is a safe procedure when performed with strict preoperative criteria, trained day stay unit (DSU) staff, and with in-patient facilities on site.

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