Day surgery is effective and safe for patients with great saphenous vein varices who meet American Society of Anesthesiologists I-II grading

Abstract

Background and Aim: Since the concept of “Day Surgery” (DS) was firstly put forward in 1995, DS for great saphenous vein varices (GSVV) becomes more and more dominant in worldwide, but it is accepted only in a limited population in China. Hence in the present retrospective study, patients who received DS and regular surgery are compared to assess the effectiveness and safety of DS for GSVV.

Patients and Methods: From 2011 to 2013, 452 patients who received DS and 372 patients who received inpatient surgery (IS) were collected from hospital main clinical database. Baseline characteristics, prognosis, and 12‑month‑long follow‑up were compared.

Results: Mean age in DS group was 52.76 ± 4.89, 53.42 ± 5.52 in IS group. During follow‑up after surgery, incidence of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), saphenous nerve injury (SNI), wound infection, and recurrence in DS and IS groups was 0.9% versus 0.8%; 2% versus 3%; 3.3% versus 3.8%; and 1.3% versus 1.1%, respectively. Moreover, there was no significant difference in incidence of DVT, SNI, wound infection, and recurrence between groups (P = 0.904; 0.376; 0.719; and 0.742). However, average hospital stays in DS group was 1 day, compared to 4.2 days in IS group. Moreover with respect to average medical cost (dollar), it was 780.33 dollars and 1021.06 dollars in DS and IS group, respectively.

Conclusion: DS for GSVV is an effective and safe procedure, which was the same as IS. However compared with IS, DS could decrease the average medical cost for patients and hospital stays obviously. Hence DS for GSVV is a win‑win procedure for patient and health care.

Keywords: Ambulatory surgery center, cost‑effect, day surgery, great saphenous vein varices, safety