A study in Foot & Ankle Orthopaedics investigated how patients are sorted into the inpatient or outpatient setting for ankle fracture surgery.
The researchers identified 240 surgically treated ankle fractures; 142 of these operations were done in the inpatient basis with a median five-day length of stay and 98 of these operations were done on an outpatient basis. The researchers analyzed how patient demographics, medical comorbidities and surgeon practice management impacted patient admission.
Here's what you need to know:
1. Inpatient admission was significantly associated with age more than 65 years old, hypertension, presence of poly-trauma and order of CT scan.
2. The majority of ankle fracture surgeries performed by fellowship-trained foot and ankle surgeons and general orthopedic surgeons were done on the outpatient basis (84 percent and 61 percent, respectively); however, only the minority of cases performed by fellowship-trained trauma surgeons were done on the outpatient basis (29 percent).
3. There were no statistically significant differences in demographics and medical risk factors among patients based on physician fellowship training.
The researchers concluded that age, specific comorbidities and surgery by a trauma-trained surgeon were linked with inpatient admission.