RESUMEN
OBJECTIVES: Ankle arthroscopy has become increasingly popular as a less invasive surgical diagnostic and therapeutic procedure for a variety ankle disorder previously managed with open surgery. Despite literature reports encouraging outcomes and low complication rates, nationwide trends in ankle arthroscopy have been poorly investigated. To fully understand the burden of an emerging surgical approach as well as helping to create global standards for the diagnosis and treatment of ankle diseases, this study aimed to evaluate the incidence and demographics of patients undergoing ankle arthroscopy in Italy from 2001 to 2016. METHODS: Data were obtained from the National Hospital Discharge Records (SDO) provided by the Italian Ministry of Health. The patient's age, gender, length of hospital stays, primary diagnosis, and primary procedure are among the anonymized data. Population data were obtained from the National Institute for Statistics (ISTAT). According to the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) ankle arthroscopy was defined by the following procedure code: 80.27. RESULTS: A total of 23,644 procedures were performed in Italy. The 25-29 and 30-34 age groups underwent this type of surgery at most. The majority of patients were males. The median length of hospital stay was 2.1 ± 2.3 days. Each year in Italy, this surgery costs an average of 2,133,401 ± 342,143. The main primary codified diagnoses were: "Contracture of joint, ankle and foot" (13.4%), "Articular cartilage disorder, ankle and foot" (8.6%), "Late effect of sprain and strain without mention of tendon injury" (7.5%) and "Other joint derangement, not elsewhere classified, ankle and foot" (6.4%). CONCLUSIONS: The present study evaluated the burden of ankle arthroscopy on the national health care system and the distribution of the main diseases requiring this type of surgery. Surgeons and policy makers can allocate healthcare resources more effectively and provide patients with high-quality care by having a better understanding of national practice patterns. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III.
RESUMEN
This study describes the trends of elbow arthroscopy in Italy and other countries in order to evaluate the yearly rates of EA. Its purpose is for future epidemiological studies to be able to compare their data between countries in order to understand the reasons for the increasing and decreasing trends. Data for this study were obtained from National Hospital Discharge records (SDO) at the Italian Ministry of Health (INHS). Data regarding sex, age, region of residence, region of surgery, length of hospitalization, and procedure codes were included. In total, 2414 elbow arthroscopies were performed in Italy from 2001 to 2016 in the adult population. The highest number of procedures was found in the 40-44 and 45-49 years age groups. Males represented the majority of patients undergoing EA both in total and over the years. An increase from 2001 to 2010 and a decrease from 2010 to 2016 were reported in the present analysis. According to other studies, males of 40-44 and 45-49 years age groups represent the most treated patients. Further epidemiological studies would provide data that could be compared between countries, reaching a general consensus on the best indications for this procedure.
