Emergency Department Visits Within Ninety Days of Endoscopic Lumbar Decompression

Following endoscopic lumbar decompression, close to 11% of patients were found to visit the ED in the 90 days following their surgery, most commonly in the first two postoperative weeks. Several factors were independently associated with ED utilization, including female sex, greater comorbidity burden, and having Medicaid insurance. Notably, ED utilization rates following endoscopic lumbar decompression are similar to those following open lumbar decompression previously published in the literature. Thus, patients undergoing endoscopic decompression are at similar risk of postoperative ED utilization-surgeons should be aware of this risk and care pathways should be modified to reduce the occurrence of postoperative ED visits in this population.