Early Discharged Lumbar Spine Fusion Reduced Postoperative Readmissions: A Follow-up Study in a National Cohort

Surgery for lumbar fusion is one of the most commonly performed spinal arthrodesis procedures worldwide. In recent years, there has been the emerging popularity of strategies aimed at early discharge (ED) in such a field of spinal surgery. However, more data are required to corroborate the adaptation of ED in spinal surgery. The benefits of ED in lumbar fusion have not yet been validated by large cohort studies. This study undertake to determine the effects of ED on readmissions and reoperations in lumbar fusion.

This population-based retrospective cohort study used admission records of Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD). The NHIRD comprehensively contains de-identified claim data of Taiwan's National Health Insurance (NHI) program which covers 99% of the Taiwanese population and contracts with 97% of the providers of healthcare services in Taiwan. In order to protect privacy, the National Health Research Institute (NHRI) re-compiled, validated and de-identified the medical claims and finally made the data publicly available for medical researchers in Taiwan. In the admission database, the investigators are able to trace comprehensive information on the insured subjects, including gender, date of birth, dates of clinical visits and hospitalization, the International Classification of Diseases (Ninth Revision) Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes of diagnoses, ICD codes of surgical procedures, etc.