A new study published in Spine examines the factors related to where a patient is discharged after anterior cervical discectomy and fusion.
Patients are typically either discharged home, to a rehabilitation facility or skilled nursing facility after cervical spinal fusions. Study authors examined 14,602 patients from the American College of Surgeons NSQIP database to determine which factors were associated with nonhome discharge.
Study authors found:
1. Most patients were discharged home — just 3.4 percent reported nonhome discharge.
2. Factors associated with nonhome discharge include:
• Age of 65 years or above
• Obesity
• Diabetes
• Partial or total dependent functional status
• Operation time longer than four hours
• Cardiac comorbidity
• ASA Class III or above
3. Race was a factor in the patients' discharge status. Black race was consistently a factor when compared with other races.
4. Most factors associated with nonhome discharge were preoperative variables. "Identification of these factors can expedite patient discharge applications and potentially reduce hospital stay, thereby reducing the risk of hospital acquired conditions and minimizing healthcare costs," concluded the study authors.