An analysis of causes of readmission after spine surgery.

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective review of medical records.

OBJECTIVE: We reviewed all early readmissions after elective spine surgery at a single orthopedic specialty hospital to analyze the causes of unplanned readmissions.

SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Recent advances in techniques and instrumentation have made more complex spinal surgeries possible, although sometimes with more complications. Early readmission rate is being used as a marker to evaluate quality of care. There is little data available regarding the causes of early readmissions after spine surgery.

METHODS: Using the hospital's administrative database of patient records from 2007 to 2009, all patients who underwent spine surgery and were readmitted to the hospital within 30 days were identified and broadly categorized as planned (a staged or rescheduled procedure or a direct transfer) or unplanned. Unplanned readmissions were defined to have occurred as a result of either a surgical or a nonsurgical complication. Analysis was focused on 12 common spine procedures based on the principle procedure International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification code for the patient's initial admission. The readmission rate was calculated for each procedure.

RESULTS: A total of 156 early readmissions were identified, of which 141 were unplanned. Of the unplanned readmissions, the most common causes were infection or a concern for an infection (45 patients, 32% of unplanned readmissions), nonsurgical complications (31 patients, 22% of readmissions), complications requiring surgical revision (21 patients, 15% of readmissions), and wound drainage (12 patients, 9% of readmissions). Fifty-seven percent of unplanned readmissions required a return to the operating room (76% of infections or concern for infection). The average length of stay for the unplanned readmissions was 6.5 days. When using the 12 most common procedures based on the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification, the early readmission rate was 3.8% (141 early readmissions in 3673 procedures).

CONCLUSION: Infection, medical complications after surgery, and surgical complications requiring revision of implants are the primary causes of unplanned early readmissions and spine surgery. Further studies are necessary to identify patients and procedures most associated with readmission.