Hospital Stay of Orthopedic Cases in a Tertiary Care Hospital: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study

INTRODUCTION: Orthopedic conditions includes a range of condition varying from traumatic injuries, congenital anomalies, chronic back pain, arthritis, rheumatologic conditions, and other. Length of hospital stay is determined by a number of factors such as symptom severity, patient co morbidity and hospital availability. Our study aims to study the length of hospital stay of the patients admitted in a provincial hospital. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in Seti Provincial Hospital in the month of January among 800 cases. The record of each orthopedic cases admitted in the hospital was retrospectively collected from the medical record section after receiving ethical approval from Institutional Review Committee of Seti Provincial Hospital. Whole sampling technique was used. Data were analyzed by Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 20. The descriptive statistical analysis was done. RESULTS: The average length of hospital stay was 2.87 days with the maximum length of the stay of 10 days and the minimum stay of zero days (discharged on the same day). Forearm bone fracture was the main reason for admission in the hospital 325 (40.62%). CONCLUSIONS: Length of the hospital stay was found to shorter than the previous study done in similar settings.