Viability of Ambulatory Major Ear Surgery and Patient Satisfaction

Background: Ambulatory ear surgery is expanding worldwide due to improvements in surgeries, and this has had a highly positive impact on both hospital and patient satisfaction. However, ambulatory major ear surgery remains controversial in our region due to a lack of research, which motivated us to conduct this study. The purpose of the research is to assess the safety of ambulatory major ear surgery and elaborate on the patient satisfaction rate. Methods: To assess complications, the readmission rate, and patient satisfaction with ambulatory major ear surgery, a prospective study of all such surgeries on pediatric and adult patients in a 1-year period in a tertiary hospital was carried out. Results: A total of 47 patients underwent ambulatory major ear surgery, and the results indicated an 89.4% discharge rate and 10.6% readmission rate, as well as high patient satisfaction. Conclusion: Our study showed a rather low complication rate and high patient satisfaction rate with ambulatory major ear surgery. This should encourage other hospitals in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to apply ambulatory ear surgery.