Day-stay myringoplasty

Grafting of the tympanic membrane (myringoplasty) has traditionally been performed as an in-patient procedure in the UK. We have performed day-stay myringoplasty on 21 consecutive patients (15 adults and six children) under general anaesthesia using an underlay temporalis fascia graft. In 18 cases there was complete healing of the tympanic membrane and in three cases the patients developed perforations at four weeks. This success rate is consistent with previously reported studies. All patients were discharged on the day of admission with no major complications. We have compared the results with a group of patients having the same operation as an in-patient and have concluded that day-stay myringoplasty under general anaesthesia is as safe and effective as in-patient surgery for the majority of patients.