Ambulatory surgery for cervical disc herniation

Today I read an interesting article in JNS-Spine. Follow-up of 1000 patients with outpatient surgery for cervical disc herniation with anterior cervical access. Patients are discharged 4 hours after surgery. There were no differences in the complication rate with patients remaining in the hospital. I have to admit my colleagues in the US are very brave. In Europe, we keep these patients at least 2-3 days in the hospital. Maybe the truth is somewhere in between - 24-48 hours should be sufficient. Perhaps the critical factor is in the organization of the emergency aid - in the US, they are the fastest and well organized.