Can Complex Joint Revisions Really Go Home the Same Day? The Data Says Yes.

A 97% success rate proves that carefully selected revision patients don't need a hospital bed.

The pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 virus presented unprecedented challenges to elective total joint arthroplasty (TJA) services. The impact of delaying surgery cannot be understated. Consequences include the progression of pain and decrease of function, increased anti-inflammatory and pain medication use, and deteriorating mental health, as well as further bone loss and osteolysis or recurrent instability leading to soft-tissue damage. Consequently, increasing safe and effective outpatient TJA has been recommended to minimize inpatient hospital burden while appropriately caring for patients in a timely manner.

Outpatient primary TJA has been adopted at a growing number of ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs) and hospital systems in the United States. More recently, early discharge following aseptic revision TJA has been investigated; however, only a few studies have been published to date, with only 2 studies focused specifically on same-day discharge (SDD). We wanted to know if we could safely push the boundary further and bring the benefits of same-day discharge to patients requiring complex aseptic revisions and conversions.