No Significant Differences in Postoperative Complications Between Outpatient and Inpatient Single-level or Multiple-level Cervical Disk Replacement for Cervical Radiculopathy.

ABSTRACT

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort analysis. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the safety profile of outpatient versus inpatient single-level and multiple-level cervical disk replacement (CDR) by analyzing one- and two-year surgical outcomes and 90-day medical complications using a large patient database. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA CDR is becoming a more desirable option for patients undergoing cervical spine procedures. Unlike anterior cervical diskectomy and fusion, CDR is motion-preserving and has been shown to reduce rates of adjacent segment disease. Current literature investigating outpatient versus inpatient CDR has shown a similar safety profile among the two cohorts. However, most of these studies have relatively small sample sizes with short-term follow-up. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was done using the PearlDiver patient database between 2010 and 2019. Patients who underwent single-level and multiple-level CDR with a follow-up of at least two years were identified. Patients within each procedure cohort were subdivided into an outpatient and an inpatient group. Univariate and multivariable analyses were performed. RESULTS: In total, 2294 patients underwent single-level CDR of which 506 patients underwent outpatient CDR and 1788 underwent inpatient CDR. In total, 236 patients underwent multiple-level CDR of which 49 patients underwent outpatient CDR and 187 underwent inpatient CDR. In the single-level CDR cohort, patients undergoing outpatient CDR were found to have lesser odds of a decompressive laminectomy at one year following the initial procedure (odds ratio=0.471; 95% confidence interval 0.205-0.945; P =0.05). No significant differences in one- and two-year surgical complications, or 90-day postoperative complications, were found on multivariate analysis of outpatient versus inpatient multiple-level CDR. CONCLUSION: Our study found that performing single-level and multiple-level CDR on an outpatient basis has a similar safety profile to patients who underwent these procedures in an inpatient setting. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE 3.