Takeaway
- Factors associated with hospital stay longer than 1 day in patients undergoing bariatric surgery were sleeve gastrectomy (SG) and a BMI >50.
- Early discharge on post-operative day 1 appeared to be safe and was not associated with higher readmission rates.
Why this matters
- In current UK healthcare environment, there is an increasing pressure on hospitals to reduce treatment cost and early discharge from hospital could be one of the options.
- Moreover, early discharge would encourage early mobilisation which could lead to reduced thromboembolic and chest-related complications.
Study design
- This retrospective study evaluated 506 patients who underwent either laparoscopic Roux Y gastric bypass (RYGB; n=407) or SG (n=99) at a single institution.
- Funding: None disclosed.
Key results
- 58.5% and 30.3% patients who underwent RYGB and SG, respectively, were discharged on post-operative day 1.
- Chances of hospital stay >1 day was 3.3-fold higher in patients undergoing SG (P<.001).
- BMI <50 was associated with early discharge (P=.030).
- Rate of readmission was similar between patients discharged on post-operative day 1 vs those discharged later (PFisher’s=.196) or those who underwent RYGB or SG (PFisher’s=.668).
- Type 2 diabetes mellitus (P=.959), hypertension (P=.238), age >60 years (P=.144), female sex (P=.540), ischaemic heart disease (P=.573), dyslipidaemia (P=.412) and depression (P=.139) did not influence length of stay post-operatively.
Limitations
- Retrospective design.
- Single-centre study.
References
References