Early discharge after posterior spinal fusion for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis is possible using an optimized postoperative pathway: a case-control study

Background: Patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) are typically healthy and yet hospital stay after posterior spinal fusion (PSF) remains lengthy. Methods: A review of patients undergoing PSF for AIS by four pediatric orthopaedic surgeons was performed. Patients were divided based on their surgery occurring before or after the implementation of an accelerated discharge pathway (AD). Patients treated prior to the AD pathway were managed using a less standardized traditional (TD) pathway. Results: Four surgeons performed 99 PSF for AIS using the TD pathway and 81 PSF after implementation of the AD pathway. Length of stay was 20% shorter in patients managed under the AD pathway (3.29±0.61 days vs. 4.11±0.97 days, P
Source: Current Orthopaedic Practice - Category: Orthopaedics Tags: Original Research Source Type: research