Although decades ago it would be standard and typical to keep just about all patients overnight or longer in a hospital for facelifts, this is no longer the case. There is nothing wrong with this practice, although slightly increased risk for infection with a resistant bacteria, this would be very uncommon. At Pacific Center for Plastic Surgery, we do all of our facelifts on an outpatient basis and perform more than 200 facelifts per year without any increased complications. On the other hand, for our out of town patients, those living alone without someone to stay with them, we will arrange for them to stay in an after care facility which is typically in a home set up for this purpose or send a nurse to stay with them in their hotel room for the first night. An exception to this would be to take care of other pre-existing medical problems requiring special care.
Most important is to use the routine that your Plastic Surgeon is most comfortable with.