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Pavithran Maniam

and 5 more

Background: Parotidectomy is commonly performed as an inpatient procedure due to drain insertion. However recent evidence suggests that drainless outpatient parotidectomy is a safe option with comparable postoperative complication and hospital readmission rates to inpatient parotidectomies. Objective: Patient satisfaction on outpatient parotidectomy is unclear and this study aims to report patients’ perspective and satisfaction on drainless outpatient parotidectomy. Design, participants and outcome measures: Anonymous Core questionnaire for the assessment of Patient Satisfaction’ (COPS) for general Day care (COPS-D) questionnaire survey was completed by patients who underwent drainless same day parotidectomy at Ninewells Hospital, Dundee from June 2018 to October 2020. Patient satisfaction on different aspects of their outpatient parotidectomy journey (e.g. pre-admission, admission on ward, in-theatre experience, nursing care, pain control and overall satisfaction) were scored using a five-point Likert scale. Results: A total of 31 drainless outpatient parotidectomies were performed and 28 patients completed the patient satisfaction survey. The majority of patients were highly satisfied (i.e. scored 5/5) with their preadmission visit (79.5%), admission on the ward (84.5%), operating room experience (96.4%), nursing care (83.9%), medical care (87.5%), information received (75.0%), autonomy (79.8%) and discharge and after care (61.9%). Despite preferring drainless parotidectomy, 16/28 (57.1%) patients either stayed for less than 23 hours or preferred to stay overnight in the hospital for non-surgical reasons. Conclusion: Outpatient parotidectomy is well received by patients and the majority preferred drainless parotidectomy over inpatient parotidectomy with drains. Careful consideration should be given when selecting patients for day case parotidectomy.