Profile of Orthopaedic Day Case Procedures at a District General Hospital (Retrospective study)

Background: The outcomes of orthopaedic day case procedures have been reported widely, but there is a paucity of reports from secondary health facilities such as district hospitals. Aim: We aimed to perform a retrospective analysis of patient records, to capture the profile of day case procedures performed. Materials: and Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of day-case procedures carried out at the dedicated Day Surgery Unit of a moderate-sized district hospital in Saudi Arabia; between January 2021 and December 2022. The medical records of all the patients who had day-case procedures by the orthopaedic unit of the hospital were analysed. Results: : Within the study period, 71 out of a total 914 elective orthopaedic procedures were carried out as day cases, giving a day case surgery rate of 7.8%. The mean age was 25.3±12.2 (range, 4-55 years), and the male to female ratio was 6:1. The spectrum of the procedures was dominated by implant removal in 59 cases (83.1%). While the anaesthetic technique varied, all the patients were either ASA class I or II. There were minor complications in 10 patients (14.0%), with 7 of them (9.8%) needing inpatient admission. There was no cancellation of cases in our study. Conclusion: We found day-case procedures to be safe and effective but with low utilization of the Day Surgery Unit, which can be improved through the development of a detailed protocol for day surgery in the hospital.