Kingsley Chin, MD, authored a study examining the percentage of patients in his practice eligible for outpatient spine surgery in an ambulatory setting.
The authors conducted a database review of Dr. Chin's patients from 2008 to 2014 and identified 708 spine surgeries, 557 of which were eligible for outpatient procedures. Here are the key findings:
1. Among the 210 inpatient surgical procedures, 72 patients underwent decompressions and 138 underwent fusions.
2. In the outpatient group, 150 patients underwent 347 decompressions and 197 patients underwent fusion or disc replacement procedures.
3. Study authors found ASC-eligible patients who underwent procedures performed in the hospital could have had their procedures performed safely in the ASC.
4. The study authors concluded, "Outpatient spine surgery is feasible in 79 percent of patients in this single-surgeon practice. On the basis of these results, a majority of spine procedures can be performed in an outpatient setting following our eligibility criteria."