Introduction: Day-stay anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction is commonly performed in North America. We report our experience in New Zealand.

Methods: One hundred and sixteen arthroscopic ACL reconstructions were performed by one surgeon with the same anaesthetist over a period of 14 months. One hundred and four were performed as day-stay procedures. Children and patients who had no social support stayed overnight. All patients underwent spinal anaesthesia with a femoral nerve block. Patients were discharged with oral analgesia, a brace and a cryocuff. One hundred and three patients were prospectively evaluated after two weeks by a visual analogue pain scores (0–10) and a self-administered patient satisfaction questionnaire.

Results: One hundred and two patients (99%) were happy to go home. One patient was admitted from the day-stay unit. One patient was re-admitted in the middle of the night. Ninety eight patients (93%) coped on the night of surgery and did not think they should have been in hospital. The mean visual analogue pain score at discharge was 1.0, in the middle of the first night was 1.8 and was 2.1 on the first day post op. Patients experienced significantly more pain the day after surgery than the night of surgery (p= 0.04).

Conclusion: Day-stay ACL reconstruction was well tolerated by most patients.