Acute tongue swelling can present as an upper airway obstruction. There are a number of pathologies which potentially can cause tongue swelling include angioedema, anaphylaxis, drug rash with eosinophilia and systemic symptom (DRESS) syndrome, local allergic reaction, trauma resulting in tongue haematoma or lingual abscess, viral infections (herpes simplex virus, herpes zoster virus, Coxsackie virus), bacterial infection, foreign body and neoplasia. Aim To present a case series of patients presenting with an acute tongue swelling sharing our experience in managing these patients.

Over the years, there has been a number of publications looking at the feasibility and patient satisfaction undergoing surgery as a day case or an overnight stay. Generally, day surgery is preferred by patients when practical [2-8].Although certain operations, such as tonsillectomy [2,4-6] and septal surgery, have been well-published, limited published literature exists on patients' satisfaction following the day