Researchers from George Washington University Hospital and Washington Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, both in Washington, D.C., used the PearlDiver database to evaluate 2,294 single-level CDR and 236 multilevel CDR patients between 2010 and 2019 who had follow-up of at least two years. Of the single-level patients, 506 were outpatients and 1,788 were inpatients. Of the multilevel cases, 49 were outpatient and 187 were inpatient.
Patients having single-level outpatient CDR had lower odds of a decompressive laminectomy after a year compared to the inpatient cases. There were no significant differences in one- or two-year complications or 90-day postoperative complications in the analysis of multilevel CDR for inpatient and outpatient cases.
The authors concluded, “Our study found that performing single-level and multiple-level CDR on an outpatient basis has a similar safety profile to patients who underwent these procedures in an inpatient setting.”
