Day‐case discharge criteria and safety of children undergoing adenoidectomy and tonsillectomy for obstructive symptoms—A systematic review

Objectives Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a common indication for adenoidectomy and tonsillectomy in children. Traditional practice involves overnight admission to monitor for respiratory complications. However, there is a shift towards same‐day discharge in selected patients. This systematic review aims to critically evaluate day‐case criteria and safety in children with OSA undergoing adenotonsillectomy. Design We performed a systematic search of EMBASE, Medline and the Cochrane library. All data collected were independently validated for accuracy. Quality assessment of included articles was performed. The protocol was registered with PROSPERO. Results A total of 15 studies were included (10 731 patients). There was heterogeneity in methods used to ascertain OSA, day‐case discharge criteria and lack of prospective discharge protocol. The proportion of children considered for planned day‐case surgery ranged from 28.7%–100% based on individual criteria, with an average rate of successful same‐day discharge of 96.1% in these patients. The reported rates of post‐operative respiratory adverse events and need for airway intervention were 0%–27.3% and 0.4%–6.8%, respectively. There was no reported mortality. The studies were considered low to medium on quality assessment. Conclusion There is a lack of prospective data on day‐case criteria and systematic assessment of post‐operative complications in children with OSA undergoing adenoidectomy and tonsillectomy. However, current literature suggests that day‐case surgery is safe in carefully selected patients. Better characterisation of patient‐specific risk factors is needed to develop an optimal criteria‐based timeline for safe discharge. This has the potential to improve confidence and uptake across units.