Postoperative complications of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction after ambulatory surgery

• Published in: Revista española de cirugía ortopédica y traumatología Vol. 59; no. 3; pp. 157 - 164
• Main Authors: Andrés-Cano, P, Godino, M, Vides, M, Guerado, E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Spain 01.05.2015
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Ambulatory Surgical Procedures - methods; Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries - surgery; Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction - methods; Arthroscopy; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Hospitalization; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Postoperative Complications - epidemiology; Postoperative Complications - etiology; Retrospective Studies; Treatment Outcome; Young Adult; Anterior Cruciate Ligament; Outpatient Surgical Procedure; Arthroscopy; Ligamentoplasty; Ligamento cruzado anterior; Ligamentoplastia; Cirugía mayor ambulatoria; Artroscopia
• ISSN: 1988-8856; 1988-8856
• DOI: 10.1016/j.recote.2015.03.005

To study postoperative complications of arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction performed as an outpatient compared with same surgery performed as a regular admission (inpatient). A study was conducted on a historical cohort of 342 patients (115 outpatients vs 227 inpatients) who underwent arthroscopic ACL primary ligamentoplasty (2004-2012). A review was performed on the demographic, surgical and hospital variables. A study was made of early complications (60 days postoperative) including visits to emergency department and readmissions. A descriptive and bivariate distribution analysis was performed between groups, with the grouping criterion: performing of the surgery with or without admission. The Chi-square test was used for qualitative variables and Mann-Whitney U test for quantitative. Limit significance p<0.05. Overall, there were 13.2% emergency department visits (mean of 1.24 visits) with an average delay of 8.22 days after discharge. pain not controlled with analgesia (6.7%), hemarthrosis that required arthrocentesis (4.4%), fever (3.2%), deep vein thrombosis (0.6%), cellulitis (0.6%), septic arthritis that required arthroscopic debridement (0.3%), and others (1.2%) including problems with immobilization. The hospital readmissions (2.3%) were for surveillance and monitoring of the surgical wound. In the bivariate analysis no statistically significant differences were found between groups as regards the sociodemographic characteristics of the patients or the complications recorded. The most frequent complications recorded were acute pain, hemarthrosis and fever. Serious complications (deep vein thrombosis, septic arthritis or need for hospital readmission) were rare. Outpatient arthroscopic ACL repair is a common technique that can be performed safely by surgery without admission, with an overall low complication rate with no differences between outpatients and inpatients.