Day case unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) is increasingly being performed worldwide. When performed in the appropriate patient, day case UKA has been demonstrated to be safe, cost effective and improve resource allocation. Limited evidence highlights increased patient satisfaction of day case UKA when compared with inpatient UKA. A detailed study of the patient perspective, experience and satisfaction following day case UKA has not been described before.
A retrospective case series review of 21 consecutive patients (19 unilateral, 2 bilateral) undergoing day case UKA in an elective orthopaedic centre was undertaken. A qualitative and quantitative patient assessment of the day case UKA experience was administered. A five-point Likert scale satisfaction questionnaire, Oxford Knee Score (OKS) and open-ended interview was undertaken. The qualitative responses underwent thematic analysis.
One hundred percent of patients expressed satisfaction (76.2% completely satisfied, 33.8% moderately satisfied) with day case UKA. The majority of patients (90.5%) reported that if they had to undergo UKA again they would prefer a day case over an inpatient procedure. Patients consider surgical outcome, physiotherapy provision, discharge planning, postoperative medications and follow up as key aspects of day case UKA care. One patient was re-admitted following discharge.
The present study demonstrates a high level of patient satisfaction with day case UKA. The results reported herein are subject to the study limitations of sample size, recall bias and inclusion criteria. We recommend that the themes identified by patients are addressed through a multidisciplinary approach with well-defined clinical pathways for a high-quality patient-centred experience.