While many forefoot procedures may be performed
as a day case, there are no specific guidelines as to which procedures
are suitable. This study assessed the early post-operative pain
after forefoot surgery performed a day case, compared with conventional
inpatient management. A total of 317 consecutive operations performed by a single surgeon
were included in the study. Those eligible according to the criteria
of the French Society of Anaesthesia (SFAR) were managed as day
cases (127; 40%), while the remainder were managed as inpatients. . The groups were comparable in terms of gender, body mass index
and smoking status, although the mean age of the inpatients was
higher (p <
0.001) and they had higher mean American Society
of Anaesthesiologists scores (p = 0.002). The most severe daily
pain was on the first post-operative day, but the levels of pain
were similar in the two groups; (4.2/10, . sd. 2.5 for day
cases, 4.4/10, . sd. 2.4 for inpatients; p = 0.53). Overall,
28 (9%) of patients who had their surgery as a day case and 34 (11%)
of inpatients reported extreme pain (≥ 8/10). There were more day
case patients rather than inpatients that declared their pain disappeared
seven days after the surgery (p = 0.02). One
