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CC BY 4.0 · Int Arch Otorhinolaryngol 2024; 28(03): e481-e486
DOI: 10.1055/s-0044-1779433
Original Research

Rate and Causes of Unplanned Hospital Returns within 60 Days following Head and Neck Surgery

Mazin Merdad
1   Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, King Abdulaziz University Hospital, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
,
Abdulsalam Alqutub
2   Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
,
Ahmed Mogharbel
1   Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, King Abdulaziz University Hospital, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
3   Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, King Fahd Armed Forces Hospital, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
,
Abdullah Farid
2   Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
,
Abdullah Bayazed
2   Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
,
Abdulaziz Alghamdi
2   Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
,
Yazeed Albogami
2   Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
,
Rayan Alshehri
2   Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
,
Majed N. Alnefaie 
3   Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, King Fahd Armed Forces Hospital, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
,
Hanin A. Alamoudi
1   Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, King Abdulaziz University Hospital, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
› Author Affiliations Funding The authors declare that they have not received funding from agencies in the public, private or non-profit sectors for the conduction of the present study.
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Abstract

Introduction Unplanned hospital returns are frequent and may be preventable.

Objective To comprehend the reasons for unplanned hospital readmission and return to the Outpatient Department (OPD) and Emergency Department (ED) within 60 days after discharge following head and neck surgery (HNS) at a tertiary care center in Saudi Arabia.

Methods In the present retrospective study, the medical records of all patients who underwent HNS for benign and malignant conditions between January 2015 and June 2022 were reviewed in terms of demographic data, comorbidities, and reasons for hospital return.

Results Out of 1,030 cases, 119 (11.55%) returned to the hospital within 60 days after discharge, 19 of which (1.84%) were readmitted. In total, 90 (8.74%) patients returned to the OPD, and 29 (2.82%), to the ED. The common reasons for readmission included infections (26.32%) and neurological symptoms (21.05%). For OPD visits, the common causes were hematoma (20%) and neurological symptoms (14.44%). For ED returns, the frequent causes were neurological symptoms (20.69%) and equipment issues (17.24%). Compared with nonreadmitted patients, readmitted patients had a higher preoperative baseline health burden when examined using the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score (p = 0.004) and the Cumulative Illness Rating Scale (CIRS; p = 0.002).

Conclusion The 60-day rates of unplanned hospital return to the OPD and ED were of 8.74% and 2.82% respectively, and 1.84% of the patients were readmitted. Hematoma, infections, and neurological symptoms were common causes. Addressing the common reasons may be beneficial to decrease postoperative hospital visits.

Keywords

patient readmission - head and neck neoplasm - surgery - otolaryngology - comorbidity


Publication History

Received: 08 May 2023

Accepted: 26 December 2023

Article published online:
16 February 2024

© 2024. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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