Demographics and surgery-related complications lead to 30-day readmission rates among knee arthroscopic procedures

Abstract

PurposeThe study objectives were (1) to evaluate risk factors related to 30‐day hospital readmissions after arthroscopic knee surgeries and (2) to determine the complications that may arise from surgery. MethodsThe American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database data from 2012 to 2017 were researched. Patients were identified using Current Procedural Terminology codes for knee arthroscopic procedures. Ordinal logistic fit regression and decision tree analysis were used to examine study objectives. ResultsThere were 83,083 knee arthroscopic procedures between 2012 and 2017 obtained from the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database. The overall readmission rate was 0.87%. The complication rates were highest for synovectomy and cartilage procedures, 1.6% and 1.3% respectively. A majority of readmissions were related to the procedure (71.1%) with wound complications being the primary reason (28.2%) followed by pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis, 12.7% and 10.6%, respectively. Gender and body mass index were not significant factors and age over 65 years was an independent risk factor. Wound infection, deep vein thrombosis, and pulmonary embolism were the most prevalent complications. ConclusionHealthcare professionals have a unique opportunity to modify treatment plans based on patient risk factors. For patients who are at higher risk of inferior surgical outcomes, clinicians should carefully weigh risk factors when considering surgical and non‐surgical approaches. Level of evidenceIII.

Distinct risk profiles for short‐term surgical complications and venous thromboembolism exist among extensor mechanism repair procedures

“…Confounders in the model were chosen if they were associated with the exposure (CPT code) and the outcome (surgical complications or VTE) and ultimately included age, sex, race, smoking status and ASA classification. Of note, the only predictor with any significant measure of association (p < 0.05) for VTE was the procedure type itself, but a multivariate logistic regression analysis was still performed and included the following variables: sex, age, race, smoking status and ASA class in addition to CPT code, as these have proven to be significant risk factors for postoperative complications in similar studies [1,27]. A subgroup analysis was performed to evaluate the risk for each type of surgical complication and VTE by procedure.…”