Fast track bariatric surgery: safety of discharge on the first postoperative day after bariatric surgery.

BACKGROUND: Fast track recovery pathways have resulted in a multidisciplinary approach to enhance postoperative recovery.
OBJECTIVES: To assess feasibility and outcome of early discharge after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) and laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRYGB).
SETTING: The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database was analyzed to identify patients with body mass index≥35 kg/m2 who underwent LSG or LRYGB in 2012 and 2013.
METHODS: Patients were allocated to early discharge (ED) when discharged on postoperative (POD) 1 and late discharge (LD) when discharged on POD 2 or 3. Baseline characteristics and 30-day outcomes were compared between the 2 groups.
RESULTS: Records of 15,468 LSG and 16,483 LRYGB patients were analyzed; 5220 patients with LSG (33.7%) and 2960 patients with LRYGB (18%) were discharged on POD 1. The early discharge group had significantly fewer co-morbidities and lower rate of complications and readmission. Thirty-day readmission rate in LSG was 2.8% in ED versus 3.6% in LD (P = .008), and in LRGYB, it was 4.3% in ED versus 5.8% in LD (P = .001). Based on multivariate analysis, early discharge was not an independent risk factor for a higher readmission rate after LSG or LRYGB. Predictors of late discharge were age>50 years, body mass index>50 kg/m2, Hispanic or non-Hispanic black race/ethnicity, impaired functional status, diabetes on insulin, chronic steroid/immunosuppressant use, bleeding disorder, being on dialysis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, albumin<3.5 mg/dL, longer operative time, and concurrent cholecystectomy.
CONCLUSION: Discharge on POD 1 after LSG and LRYGB is feasible in a considerable proportion of patients. In this subgroup, early discharge is well tolerated and may be associated with lower complication and readmission rates.