What Are the Optimal Discharge Criteria?

New approaches have been set up in the last few years to improve the perioperative experience and actively involve patients undergoing total joint replacement in the care pathway. Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) or fast-track programs were introduced in the 1990s by Prof. Kehlet, first in gastroenterology and then in all the fields of surgery. In the last decades, many protocols have been described to optimize the management of patients undergoing a major joint replacement in orthopedic surgery. The optimal discharge benchmarks following total knee and hip replacement in a fast-track protocol are crucial and typically defined with criteria including freedom from requiring intravenous pain drugs, having well-controlled pain, achieving 90° of knee flexion, accomplishing a specified walking distance, increasing independence with ambulation, and being able to complete stair climbing [1]. However, these criteria may not fully enclose all aspects that can impact readiness for discharge.