Outpatient parathyroid surgery: ten-year experience: is it safe?

Outpatient parathyroid surgery is increasing in frequency especially for patients undergoing minimally invasive operations. From January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2009, 585 operations were performed on patients with untreated primary hyperparathyroidism. Outpatient operations were performed on 43 per cent (249/585), whereas 57 per cent (336/585) were admitted. Comorbidities were present in 63 per cent of outpatients and 72 per cent of inpatients, whereas systemic complications occurred in 0.8 per cent of outpatients and 7 per cent of inpatients. Ninety-four per cent of outpatients were minimally invasive although inpatient procedures were evenly divided. Local complications were low (8% and 6%) in both groups. Using zip codes to determine distance from home to hospital, no differences were noted. Readmission rates were low (<0.5%) and the same in each group. Inpatients longer than 23 hours tended to be older with higher local and systemic complication rates. Over a decade, most patients undergoing same day parathyroid surgery had minimally invasive operations with lower comorbidities and lower systemic complications than inpatients. Minimally invasive and less complex nonminimally invasive operations can safely be performed on an outpatient basis with careful patient selection. Patient with more severe comorbidities and multiple comorbidities are less favorable candidates for outpatient surgery because of a higher risk of systemic complications.