Instrumented outpatient anterior cervical discectomy and fusion: is it safe?

Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion procedures are one of the most common procedures performed in spinal surgery. Increasingly they are being performed on an outpatient basis. The primary impetus for performing procedures as an outpatient is potential cost savings. However, there are few studies discussing the safety of performing the procedure in an ambulatory setting. This is a retrospective review of our initial experience in performing anterior cervical discectomy and fusion procedures with instrumentation (ACDFI) in an ambulatory surgery center dedicated to spine surgery. Patients were selected for outpatient surgery if they had limited co-morbidities and the surgery involved only 1 or 2 levels. One hundred fifty-two patients underwent outpatient ACDFI during the study period (2007-2009). Six patients returned to the hospital emergency room after discharge. The reasons for evaluation included 2 for neck pain, 1 for dysphagia, 1 for vocal cord paralysis and dysphagia, 1 for nausea, and 1 for cervical swelling. Only 1 of the 6 patients required admission to the hospital. None of the 6 suffered any long-term sequelae. The overall complication rate was 3.9%. A self-reported survey was completed by 75 patients within 6 months of surgery, and there was a 100% satisfaction rate among responders. ACDFI can be performed safely on an outpatient in selected patients with a high degree of patient satisfaction. Our experience is consistent with those of previous investigators.