Hospital discharge criteria following colorectal surgery: A systematic review

Aim The aim of this study was to identify and synthesize the hospital discharge criteria that have been used in the colorectal surgery literature. Methods A systematic literature search was conducted using eight bibliographic databases. Searches were limited to English language journal articles published between January 1996 and October 2009. Primary research applying hospital discharge criteria following colorectal surgery was included. Study selection was made independently by two reviewers. Discharge criteria were extracted from each included study. Results The 156 studies identified by the search strategy described 70 different sets of criteria to indicate readiness for discharge. The majority of studies applied a combination of three or four criteria; those most frequently cited were tolerance of oral intake (80%), return of bowel function (70%), adequate pain control (44%) and adequate mobility (35%). End-points employed to determine the achievement of criteria were generally poorly defined. Conclusion A variety of hospital discharge criteria were applied in the colorectal surgery literature. Development of standardized criteria will allow more accurate comparison of results between studies assessing hospital length of stay or other discharge-related outcome measures.