Jain N, et al. - To characterize the incidence, causes, risk factors, and costs correlated with 30-day Emergency Department (ED) visit following primary lumbar fusion, researchers studied a national insurance database of subjects with primary lumbar fusions performed for degenerative pathology of the spine between 2007 and Q3-2015. They noted 4806 patients with 10,281 ED visits within 30 days after surgery. They found 1466 admissions to the hospital for management and 19.9% with had multiple (≥3) visits. Cardiorespiratory complaints (49.4%), and back and/or leg pain (47.7%) were common causes for presentation in the ED. They recorded the overall ED cost burden, approximately two-thirds as much as hospital readmissions within 30 days ie, $6,994,260 vs $10,880,999. They also reported a sizable subset of outpatients presenting to the ED for acute care but did not necessitate hospitalization.