Purpose: To evaluate patient comfort with outpatient orbital surgery.
Design: Prospective, non-randomized study.
Methods: The experience of 34 consecutive outpatient orbital procedures in 30 patients was evaluated. The data obtained included subjective postoperative pain and discomfort at 3 time intervals (immediate, postoperative day 1 and 1 week) using a 100 mm visual analogue scale (VAS). Patients were also asked to rate the overall experience after one week of follow-up.
Results: The average pain and discomfort scores in the immediate postoperative period measured 13.95 and 12.61, respectively. Overnight scores of 5.91 and 7.25 were determined for pain and discomfort, and at the one-week follow-up these were 0.91 and 3.42, respectively. All 30 patients reported that they were "satisfied with their overall experience." The highest VAS score for pain at any time was 50. The highest VAS score for discomfort at any time was also 50. All 30 patients had recovered or improved their visual acuity at week one. There was no incidence of retrobulbar hemorrhage, significant loss of vision (greater than two lines), increased intraocular pressure or pupillary defects in any of the patients. None of the study patients required re-hospitalization.
Conclusions: This study suggests that outpatient orbital surgery, in the hands of an experienced orbital surgeon, is safe and well tolerated by the patients regardless of the type of anesthesia or type of procedure.