A study published in Spine investigated the adverse event profile of cervical total disc replacements performed in the outpatient versus inpatient setting.
Researchers examined the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database to identify patients who underwent single-level CTDR between 2005 and 2016. Outpatient or inpatient status was defined by length of stay.
In all, the study featured 373 outpatient procedures and 1,612 inpatient procedures.
Here are three findings:
1. Study authors found no difference in perioperative complications between the inpatient and outpatient CTDRs.
2. The rate of readmission did not change depending on if the procedure was performed in the inpatient or outpatient setting.
3. Patients who underwent outpatient single-level CTDR did not show a different rate of perioperative adverse events compared with inpatient single-level CTDR and outpatient single-level anterior cervical discectomy and fusion.
"The perioperative outcomes evaluated in the current study support the conclusion that, for appropriately selected patients, single level CTDR can be safely performed in the outpatient setting without increased rates of 30-day perioperative complications or readmissions compared to inpatient CTDR or outpatient single-level ACDF," study authors concluded.