The Truth About Post-Op Interventions: What Really Happens During the First Night

How a single-surgeon study proved that readmission rates are identical whether a patient receives an overnight intervention or not.

Refinements in surgical technique, pain management, blood conservation, and rehabilitation have resulted in quicker recovery, providing a foundation for early discharge after TJA. Evidence has demonstrated early discharge TJA to be safe and cost-saving, without increasing readmission rates.

However, discharge on the same day of surgery has been criticized as potentially hazardous, with surgeons advocating an overnight stay to observe patients for life-threatening complications and those that will trigger a readmission. But is that overnight stay actually providing clinical value? Prior efforts to decrease expenditure by eliminating unnecessary health care modalities have proven to be effective in a variety of settings. Whether TJA patients discharged on postoperative day 1 (POD 1) receive beneficial medical interventions the night of surgery, necessitating their stay in the hospital, remains unknown.