A study, published in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, examined the safety of outpatient shoulder surgery in a geriatric population at freestanding ASCs.
Researchers examined 640 patients, 65 years and older, who underwent shoulder surgery at an ASC to determine complication rate. Researchers examined several complications, including acute infections requiring antibiotics, postoperative transfer to a hospital, wrong-site surgical procedures, retention of a foreign object and postoperative symptomatic thromboembolism, among others.
In all 640 cases, researchers found only seven complication reports in seven patients. They calculated an adverse event rate of 1.01 percent.
Researchers concluded, "Our findings are consistent with currently reported outpatient hospital-based data and illustrate the safety of outpatient shoulder procedures at a freestanding ambulatory surgery center in Medicare-age patients."
