A new study published in the International Journal of Spine Surgery examines the 90-day readmission rate for patients undergoing cervical spine surgery.
There were 768 patients participating in the study who underwent surgery at the Hospital for Joint Diseases, New York Langone Medical Center. The database was queried using ICD-9 codes for cervical pathology over a three-year period to determine the readmission rates and reasons for readmission.
The researchers found:
1. There were 24 patients — 3.13 percent — who were readmissions.
2. Around 2 percent of the readmissions were for planned surgeries; 1.04 percent of the readmissions were unplanned.
3. There were 640 patients who underwent an anterior approach surgery, and there were 2.17 percent of those patients who had planned readmissions.
4. There were 128 patients who underwent procedures involving a posterior approach, and 1.5 percent of the patients in that group had planned readmissions.
5. Among the anterior group, the unplanned readmission rate was 0.63 percent; in the posterior group, the unplanned readmission rate was 3.12 percent.
"The unplanned readmission rate associated with the posterior approach procedures was significantly higher than that of anterior approach patients," concluded the study authors.