A new study published in The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery compares same-day and next-day discharges for total hip arthroplasty.
The study authors examined 220 patients with who were 60 years old on average and had a BMI of less than 40. The patients underwent primary total hip arthroplasty with 112 patients discharged within 12 hours of surgery; the remaining 108 patients were discharged after at least one overnight stay at the hospital. Both groups had to meet the same discharge criteria.
The researchers found:
1. Among the patients who planned outpatient procedures, 76 percent reported same-day discharge; 23 percent had same-day discharge and 1 percent stayed in the hospital for two nights.
2. Three-quarters of the patients who planned inpatient procedures had next-day discharge; 17 percent had same-day discharge and 8 percent of the patients stayed at the hospital for more than one night.
3. The outpatient group reported more pain one day after discharge than the inpatient group, but by four weeks after surgery the difference disappeared.
4. The reoperation rate in the outpatient group was 1.79 percent and 0.93 percent for the inpatient group.
5. The inpatient group had a higher rate of hospital readmissions at 3.7 percent, compared to 0.89 percent for the outpatient group.
6. None of the patients in the outpatient group visited the emergency department after surgery; 1.85 percent of the patients in the inpatient group visited the ED. However, none of the inpatient group members reported acute office visits after surgery while 1.79 percent of the outpatient group did.