Enhanced Treatment: Examining the clinical and cost implication of combined home care and day-case ankle fracture fixation

Category:Ankle, TraumaIntroduction/Purpose:Ankle fracture fixation has commonly been undertaken with an inpatient process due to swelling and surgery may not always be conducted on the next available operating list. In the UK there has been a move over the last 5 years to manage many trauma cases semi-electively and within the day case departments, to give patients more choice in their treatment.We conducted a study looking at the impact of a home therapy ankle pathway combined with day case- surgery on the length of stay and safety of patients with ankle fractures requiring surgical fixation conducted by group consultant trauma surgeons and their teams.Methods:Patients were assessed in two periods from Jan 2015 to Dec 2016; all patients were placed in a plaster of paris back slab in casualty with the ankle reduced, limb care advice given – elevation, cooling and DVT thromboprophylaxis.A group of patients were assessed for home therapy and day case surgery and were then discharged home on crutches after a...