Day case management in adjustable suture squint surgery

Day case adjustable suture squint surgery is limited by patient cooperation in the early post-operative period. Nausea is common and may be exacerbated by adjustment. To facilitate early adjustment, in 37 consecutive patients anaesthesia was induced with propofol and the airway maintained with a laryngeal mask. Before and after adjustment patients recorded their level of nausea on a visual analogue scale (1 = no nausea, 10 = vomiting). The mean age of the group was 31.9 years with 20 men and 17 women. Adjustment was performed at a mean time of 4.9 hours after surgery. On the analogue scale of nausea the mean score was 1.54 pre-adjustment and 1.73 post-adjustment. Only 1 patient was given a post-operative anti-emetic. All patients were sufficiently alert to adjust without difficulty and were discharged the same day. The use of a laryngeal mask and induction of anaesthesia with propofol in adjustable suture squint surgery facilitates early adjustment and thus day case management.