Background:

Early ambulation in patients undergoing transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) surgery is recommended, however, the precise time interval after open surgery has never been specified. Current retrospective analysis was conducted aiming to clarify an accurate time interval.

Methods:

A retrospective analysis of eligible patients was conducted using the databases of the Bone Surgery Department, Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University from 2016 to 2021. Data pertaining to postoperative hospital stay length, expenses, incidence of complications were extracted and compared using Pearson’s χ2 or Student’s t-tests. A multivariate linear regression model was conducted to identify the relationship between length of hospital stay (LOS) and other outcomes of interest. A propensity analysis was conducted to minimize bias and to evaluate the reliability of results.

Results:

A total of 303 patients met the criteria and were included for the data analysis. Multivariate linear regression results demonstrated that a high ASA grade (p = 0.016), increased blood loss (p = 0.003), cardiac disease (p < 0.001), occurrence of postoperative complications(p < 0.001) and longer ambulatory interval (p < 0.001) was significantly associated with an increased LOS. The cut-off analysis manifested that patients should start mobilization within 3 days after open TLIF surgery (B = 2.843, [1.395-4.292], p = 0.0001). Further comparative analysis indicated that patients who start ambulatory exercise within 3 days have shorter LOS (8.52 ± 3.28d vs 12.24 ± 5.88d, p < 0.001), total expenses ( 9398.12 ± 2790.82vs 10701.03 ± 2994.03 [USD], p = 0.002). Propensity analysis revealed such superiority was stable along with lower incidence of postoperative complications (2/61 vs 8/61, p = 0.0048).

Conclusions:

The current analysis suggested that ambulatory exercise within 3 days for patients who underwent open TLIF surgery was significantly associated with reduced LOS, total hospital expenses, and postoperative complications. Further causal relationship would be confirmed by future randomized controlled trials.