BACKGROUND: In many European countries, @entity1 requiring surgical treatment of @entity1171 are generally hospitalized for an average of 8-11 days. This anecdotal concept is largely based on the premise that the inpatient monitoring of soft tissue conditions may lead to a decreased complication rate. The present study was designed to test the hypothesis that the surgical care of isolated @entity1171 as an outpatient procedure represents a safe and feasible concept which is not associated with an increased complication rate. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed of a prospective database during a 5-year period (01/01/2005-12/31/2009) at a US academic level 1 @entity130 center with an institutional protocol of outpatient surgery for isolated @entity1171 . All @entity174 were classified according to the AO/OTA system. Outcome parameters consisted of the rate of @entity260 and frequency of unplanned surgical revisions outpatient isolated versus inpatient isolated with surgical fixation of ankle isolated @entity174 . RESULTS: Among 810 consecutive @entity1 with @entity1171 during the study period, 476 met the inclusion criteria. Of these, 256 @entity1 (53.8%) were treated as outpatients. The average length of stay of @entity1 who were admitted as inpatients was 1.5  0.8 days (range 1-5 days). The age distribution was in a similar range for inpatients and outpatients (39  14.1 vs 35  12.8 years), and the injury severity based on the AO/OTA @entity174 classification revealed a similar distribution of @entity174 patterns in both groups. The rate of @entity260 (9.1 vs 3.1%) and of unplanned surgical revisions (3.6 vs 1.2%) was significantly increased in the hospitalized group, compared to @entity1 with ambulatory surgery (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The surgical treatment of isolated @entity1171 as an outpatient procedure represents a safe and resource-efficient concept which is not associated with an increased complication rate. Cultural differences in the domestic environment of individual @entity1 may have to be taken into consideration.

[Surgical treatment of XXXX as an outpatient procedure. A safe and resource-efficient concept?].

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['patients'] @entity174 :: ('MESH:D050723', 'Disease') :: ['fractures', 'fracture'] @entity260 :: ('MESH:D011183', 'Disease') :: ['postoperative complications'] @entity1171 :: ('MESH:D064386', 'Disease') :: ['ankle fractures'] @entity130 :: ('MESH:D014947', 'Disease') :: ['trauma']
@entity1171 :: (MESH:D064386,Disease) :: ['ankle fractures']
