A clinical-care pathway for decreasing hospital stay after radical prostatectomy.

Objectives: To evaluate the use of a clinical-care pathway that decreased the stay in hospital after radical retropubic prostatectomy from 3 to 2 days, assessing the costs and quality of care.

Patients And Methods: Forty-four consecutive men who underwent radical retropubic prostatectomy were evaluated prospectively. The first 22 men were hospitalized under the standard 3-day clinical-care pathway in use at our institution. This pathway was evaluated, shortened to construct a 2-day pathway, and a second group of 22 consecutive men hospitalized under the new pathway. Both groups were evaluated and compared 6 weeks post-operatively.

Results: The mean (SD) hospital stay was 2.1 (0.3) days for men in the 2-day and 2.9 (0.4) days for men in the 3-day pathway (P < 0.001). The mean (SD) hospital cost was $8468 (801) in the 2-day and $8806 (630) in the 3-day pathway (P=0.13). None of the men in the 2-day and one of 22 men in the 3-day pathway experienced a major complication (P=0.31). Two of 22 men in the 2-day and one of 22 in the 3-day pathway exceeded the expected stay by one day (P=0.55).

Conclusion: The hospital stay after radical retropubic prostatectomy can be safely shortened from 3 to 2 days for most men. However, the shorter hospital stay does not result in significant cost savings. The shorter stay does not appear to compromise quality of care. Proper patient education and careful pre- and post-operative supervision are necessary for a successful outcome.