Causes of unplanned admission after orthopedic procedures in ambulatory surgery

Orthopaedic procedures performed in Day Surgery Units provide important advantages which disappear when patients require admission when postoperative recovery is not as expected. The aim of this study was to analyse the reasons for unplanned hospital admissions after orthopaedic procedures in a Day Surgery Unit and their relationship between variables such as patient age, anaesthetic risk and technique, procedure or duration.

Ambispective cohort study of 5,085 patients who underwent surgical orthopaedic procedures between 1995 and 2017. Thirty-nine variables provided by the Unit's database were analysed. The database was opened on the day of admission and closed the 30th postoperative day.

Of the patients, 98.2% were discharged from the Unit. Seventy-four (1.5%) required overnight admission. This percentage showed significant differences in relation to the type of procedure, type of anaesthesia and duration, which conditioned overnight admission due to inadequate postoperative pain management, nausea or wound complications. Seventeen patients (0.3%) required readmission after discharge due to complications that arose at home, such as wound infection, which was the most common.

Unplanned admissions are more frequently related to general anaesthesia, lengthy surgeries and procedures such as arthroscopy, hallux valgus corrections or removal of osteosynthesis material. The major reasons for unplanned admissions were inadequate postoperative pain management for overnight admissions and wound infection for admissions after discharge.