Short-stay hospitalisation for thyroid surgery - a feasible option in a resource constrained community.

Background: Short-stay thyroid surgery is still nascent in developing nations like Nigeria. With the increasing cost of healthcare, there is consistently the need to reduce healthcare delivery costs. Short-stay services in selected cases meet this goal, in addition to other benefits of short hospital stays. This study aimed to highlight the feasibility of the practice of short-stay thyroidectomy in a rural tertiary hospital in Nigeria.

Methods: The study is a retrospective review of all patients who had short-stay thyroidectomy in a rural tertiary hospital in Nigeria from January 2017 to December 2021.

Results: The study reviewed 73 patients admitted for thyroidectomy on a short-stay basis within the study period. There were 70 (95.9%) females and three (4.1%) males, giving a ratio of 23:1 and a mean age of 39.8 years. Sixty-eight (93.2%) patients had no complications, and the others had minor complications that did not otherwise prolong their hospitalisation. Seventy-one (97.3%) patients were discharged within 24 hours of surgery, while two (2.7%) were discharged within 48 hours. There were no readmissions, and no mortality was recorded.

Conclusion: Short-stay hospitalisation for thyroid surgery is feasible and a viable alternative to the conventional 72-hour postoperative hospital stay in our setting.