Abstract
Background:
Due to rising health care costs, attention has been dedicated to understanding both outcomes and expenditure as it relates to improving value. There is an increasing trend to perform inpatient hospital procedures in the ambulatory setting to lower costs. Complications to surgical procedures are costly. However, there is a paucity of data reporting early complications. This study aims to determine the 30-day postoperative complication rate of ambulatory surgical procedures in a sports medicine practice.
Methods:
A retrospective review of four Sports Fellowship trained orthopaedic surgeons at a single institution was conducted for all procedures performed over a 29-month period. The inclusion criteria consisted of all ambulatory surgical cases. Surgeon completed infection control surveys were reviewed from the included patients which contained information on intra-operative complications, post-operative infections, emergency room (ER) visit or hospitalization related to the procedure. Demographics on the patients were collected via the institutional electronic medical record (EMR). Descriptive statistics were performed on case type and frequency (Microsoft Excel).
Results:
From January 1, 2015 through May 31, 2018, 571 surgical procedures performed in the ambulatory setting met inclusion criteria. There was a total of six surgical complications reported (three dermatologic, two deep vein thrombosis, one hemarthrosis). There were no intra-operative complications reported and no surgical site infections reported.
Conclusions/Significance:
During the two year and five months study period, the sports medicine, orthopaedic surgery institution had an overall complication rate of 0.51%. This rate is within the historical norm for the majority of the procedures performed. There were no intra-operative complications and no surgical site infections. Only one patient required an ER visit in over 2 years. Ambulatory surgery performed by Sports Fellowship trained, Board Certified Orthopaedic Surgeons in select patients can be performed safely with minimal complications thus lowering costs and improving value.