Elective foot and ankle surgery; activity and perioperative complications in Queensland public hospitals, Australia

To conduct an audit of elective foot and ankle surgery in Queensland public hospitals and to compare the frequency of these procedures performed to other states and territories of Australia.

ICD-10-AM data was used to extract elective foot and ankle procedures from the Data Services Unit of Queensland Health, and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare between the years of 2000 and 2004.

During the 4-year audit period 3846 primary procedures were performed during the 4-year period with a complication rate of 2.2% during the hospital admission period. Mean length of stay was 1.7 days. Post-operative infection rates were 0.26%. With the exception of Tasmania and the Northern Territory, Queensland performs the least number of elective foot and ankle procedures per capita per year in Australia.

This is the first reported audit of elective foot and ankle surgery for Queensland public hospitals. Complication rates cannot be directly compared to the literature as this data could only capture complications within hospital admission period. Fewer elective foot and ankle procedures were performed in Queensland public hospitals compared to all other mainland states of Australia during the data collection period.