Outpatient Total Joint Arthroplasty: The New Reality

As perioperative protocols have improved, there has been a reduction in the rates of key complications after hip and knee arthroplasty. Likewise, as we have been able to make patients more comfortable postoperatively, hospital length of stay has decreased and in some centers, hip and knee arthroplasty is now routinely performed as an outpatient. While the number of surgeons offering this option and patients choosing to have procedures performed as an outpatient grows, many questions revolve around this movement. This article will review the data supporting outpatient arthroplasty, the business and legal aspects involved, if surgeons can align with their hospital to offer these services, and how tightly knit and highly organized teams are key to the success of safely offering hip and knee arthroplasty on an outpatient basis.