New York City-based NYU Langone Medical Center researchers investigated readmissions following anterior cervical discectomy and fusion in an outpatient setting.
The study leveraged the State Ambulatory Services Database for New Jersey from 2003 to 2012. Researchers examined 1,528 patients who underwent one- to two-level outpatient ACDFs with readmission data.
International Journal of Spine Surgery published the study.
Here are three takeaways:
1. Of the patients, 83 (5.4 percent) were readmitted.
2. Of the patients requiring readmission, none endured an initial length of stay longer than one day.
3. Researchers emphasized the need for further studies on other states' outpatient data to "determine whether these results of outpatient ACDF are applicable nationwide."