P124 The effect of next day discharge protocol on the length of stay in hospital, after bariatric surgery

Bariatric surgery has been proven to be a safe surgical procedure with very low perioperative mortality for the average patient, although the patients group tend to be high risk patients. In present day medical practice there is an increase drive and paradigm shift toward enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS). This drive is founded on the several evidence suggesting reduced post-operative complications and improved post-operative outcomes following ERAS. Method Data collection was via our prospectively maintained bariatric dataset. We evaluated the length of stay prior the implementation of the POD 1 discharge in the first cycle, and the LOS after the implementation of POD1 discharge in the second cycle. A total of 32 patients were included in the study, with 16 patients in each cycle. Results In the first cycle the length of stay ranged between 1- 4 days with a median LOS of 2 days and an average LOS of 2.25 days. 17% of patients were discharged on POD 1 day, 67% on POD 2 and 8% for POD 3 and 4 each. There were no 30- day re admissions. In the second cycle, the LOS ranged between 1- 4 days with a median LOS of 1 day and an average LOS of 1.4 days. 69% of patients were discharged on POD1, 25% on POD 2 and 6% on POD 4. There were no 30-day re admissions. Conclusion The next day discharge protocol reduces the length of hospital stay after BS with no difference in 30-day readmission rate.