January 06, 2014
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Age is a main factor for length of stay after primary elective ankle surgery

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Pakzad H. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2014;doi:10.2106/JBJS.K.00834

Age is a significant factor in indicating patients who will have lengthier inpatient recoveries after primary elective total ankle replacement or ankle arthrodesis, according to a recently published data.

In the study, Hossein Pakzad, MD, and colleagues studied 343 patients who underwent open or arthroscopic ankle fusion or total ankle replacement for end-stage ankle arthritis from 2003 to 2010. The researchers concluded that with every yearly increase in age, the length of stay increased by 1%. The median length of stay was 75 hours.

Both Short Form 36 General Health (SF-36 GH) and Physical Component Summary (PCS) scores were significantly associated with the length of stay. Higher SF-36 GH or PCS scores resulted in a shorter length of stay. Female gender, higher American Society of Anesthesiologists grade, multiple medical comorbidities, rheumatoid arthritis and open surgery were also significant factors in length of stay.

Pakzad and his colleagues concluded for those who have risk factors, both better education and more focused perioperative care would aid in shortening length of stay while reducing health care costs. – by Christian Ingram

Disclosure: No authors have received payments or services in support of this work. One or more of the authors, or his or her institution, has had a financial relationship with an entity in the biomedical arena that could be perceived to have the potential to influence this study.