ASC Spine Surgery Benchmarking Data

Here is the average time spent in convalescent care unit, post-anesthesia care unit and operating room for a number of spine procedures performed in the ASC setting, according to a study completed by Kenneth Pettine, MD. The study analyzed data from 1,030 spine cases performed at Loveland (Colo.) Surgery Center from spring 2003 to the end of 2008.

Convalescent Care
Procedure	Average time in convalescent care
Non-instrumented spine surgery, microdiscetomies and/or nerve decompressions	19.00 hours
Cervical artificial disc replacement – 1 Level	20.00 hours
Anterior cervical fusion – 1 Level	20.68 hours
Anterior cervical fusion – 2 Level	20.33 hours
Lumbar artificial disc replacement – 1 Level	21.00 hours
Lumbar fusion – 1 Level	42.10 hours
Lumbar fusion – 2 Level	50.07 hours
Lumbar fusion – 3 Level	55.11 hours

PACU
Procedure	Average time in PACU
Non-instrumented spine surgery, microdiscetomies and/or nerve decompressions	78.00 min.
Cervical artificial disc replacement – 1 Level	81.00 min.
Anterior cervical fusion – 1 Level	92.54 min.
Anterior cervical fusion – 2 Level	80.80 min.
Lumbar artificial disc replacement – 1 Level	83.00 min.
Lumbar fusion – 1 Level	77.59 min.
Lumbar fusion – 2 Level	85.79 min.
Lumbar fusion – 3 Level	91.07 min.

Operating Room
Procedure	Average time in PACU
Non-instrumented spine surgery, microdiscetomies and/or nerve decompressions	74.00 min.
Cervical artificial disc replacement – 1 Level	84.00 min.
Anterior cervical fusion – 1 Level	81.72 min.
Anterior cervical fusion – 2 Level	81.43 min.
Lumbar artificial disc replacement – 1 Level	100.00 min.
Lumbar fusion – 1 Level	157.51 min.
Lumbar fusion – 2 Level	186.09 min.
Lumbar fusion – 3 Level	213.00 min.