Table 1.

An overview of the literature analyzing patient characteristics amenable to outpatient thyroidectomy.

AUTHOR (YEAR)	INCLUSION CRITERIA	EXCLUSION CRITERIA	STUDY DESIGN – SAMPLE SIZE
COUNTRY
Chin et al. (2007) (5) China	1. Hemithyroidectomies for thyroid nodule size 4 cm and below	1. Large retrosternal goiters	Retrospective n= 114
	2. Patient’s fitness for surgery	2. Goitres causing tracheal obstruction or deviation
	3. Postoperative family support.	3. Patients who were class three and above on the scale of the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ Physical Class System (ASA)
		4. Patients who could not meet the general criteria for day surgery procedures.
Snyder et al. (2010) (8) USA	1. Cooperative patient interested in outpatient surgery		Prospective n= 1,241
	2. Absence of significant medical comorbidities
	3. No anticoagulant treatment or need for drain
	4. No concomitant procedures (e.g. lateral neck dissection)
	5. Sufficient patient autonomy and social support
Terris et al. (2007) (9) USA		1. Significant comorbid conditions	Retrospective review of prospective data n= 91
		2. Patients who underwent concomitant procedures requiring admission
		3. Patients who expressed a preference for admission
		4. Patients who required drains - large lesions incurring a potential for significant postoperative dead space
Bergenfelz et al. (2008) (19) Sweden	1. Patient within a 1-hour drive from the hospital for at least 48 hours		Retrospective n= 3,660
	2. Adequate support at home
	3. Hemi-thyroidectomies and subtotal thyroidectomies completed by 13:00 to allow adequate time to monitor
Almeida et al. (2010) (47) Portugal		1. Rejection of ambulatory regimen by the patient	Retrospective review of prospective data n= 100
		2. Lack of motivation for an outpatient procedure
		3. Cognitive disability or low educational level that could not permit an early recognition of the alert signs of a major complication
		4. Home distance from hospital over 20 km,
		5. Lack of adequate home facilities
Mazeh et al. (2012) (48) USA		1. Comorbidities that may require longer observation owing to the nature of their underlying disease	Retrospective review of prospective data n= 608
		2. Patients who live >3 hours away
		3. Patients with no individuals to stay with at home
Lo Gerfo et al. (1991) (49) USA	1. Patients emotionally and intellectually capable of understanding the procedure and post-operative plan		Retrospective n= 134
Teoh et al. (2008) (50) China	1. Age <70 years		Retrospective n= 50
	2. ASA grade I/II
	3. BMI <30 kg/m2
	4. Benign unilobular thyroid disease
	5. Willingness to undergo surgery on a day case basis
	6. Responsible adult available to care for the patient postoperatively in the first 24 hours
	7. Easy access to a telephone
Champault et al. (2009) (51) France		1. ASA of III or IV	Retrospective n= 95
		2. Anticoagulation treatment
		3. The presence of sleep apnea
		4. Age >75 years
		5. Patient lives >50 km from the hospital
		6. No functional telephone line
		7. The absence of an adult willing to accompany them home and to stay with them overnight.
Sklar et al. (2011) (52) Canada	1. A partial thyroidectomy was performed		Retrospective n= 247
	2. Patients must live or be staying within 20 minutes of the hospital
	3. Must have a responsible adult at home the first night after the surgery
	4. ASA risk score of III or less with a
	stable medical condition
Sahmkow et al. (2012) (32) Canada	1. Hemithyroidectomy, total thyroidectomy and completion thyroidectomy	1. History of coagulation problems or current aspirin use	Prospective n= 200
	2. Thyroid surgery +/- central neck dissection	2. Severe comorbidity or uncontrolled systemic disease
		3. simultaneous surgery
		4. Lack of social support
		5. Housing >1 hour drive from hospital