Shorter hospital stays linked to more complications: US study
There's a 'black hole' between the patient's discharge and their first post-operative visit, researchers say
The trend toward shorter hospital stays after surgical procedures may come at the expense of an increase in post-discharge complications, according to US research.
Academics evaluated data for more than 538,000 patients in the US who underwent any of 11 surgical procedures.
These included operations involving the colon and rectum; the oesophagus; the hepatopancreatobiliary system; or the gynaecologic or urologic systems.
During the five-year study period, the medium length of hospital stay following surgery fell on average from three to two days, while post-discharge complications (occurring from the day of discharge up to 30 days) increased by 12%.
