Admission Rates, Healthcare Utilization, and Inpatient Cost of Radiation Cystitis in the United States.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the incidence, cumulative healthcare burden, and financial impact of inpatient admissions for radiation cystitis (RC), while exploring practice differences in RC management between teaching and nonteaching hospitals. METHODS: We focused on 19,613 patients with a diagnosis of RC within the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) from 2008 to 2014. ICD-9 diagnosis and procedure codes were used. Complex-survey procedures were used to study the descriptive characteristics of RC patients and the procedures received during admission, stratified by hospital teaching status. Inflation-adjusted cost and cumulative annual cost were calculated for the study period. Multivariable logistic regression was used to study the impact of teaching status on the high total cost of admission. RESULTS: Median age was 76 (interquartile range 67-82) years. Most of the patients were males (73%; P < .001). 59,571 (61%) patients received at least one procedure, of which, 24,816 (25.5%) received more than one procedure. Median length of stay was 5days (interquartile range 2-9). Female patients and patients with a higher comorbidity score were more frequently treated at teaching hospitals. A higher proportion of patients received a procedure at a teaching hospital (64% vs 59%; P < .001). The inflation-adjusted cost was 9207 USD and was higher in teaching hospitals. The cumulative cost of inpatient treatment of RC was 63.5 million USD per year and 952.2 million USD over the study period. CONCLUSION: The incidence of RC-associated admissions is rising in the US. This disease is a major burden to US healthcare. The awareness of the inpatient economic burden and healthcare utilization associated with RC may have funding implications.

Who Is Shaping the Future of Academic Urology? A Descriptive Analysis of Residency Program Directors.

OBJECTIVE: To characterize the demographics, educational background, and scholarly characteristics of current urology residency program directors (PDs). METHODS: Urology programs were identified by the listing on the "Accredited US Urology Programs" section of American Urological Association website as of October 2021. Demographics and academic data were collected via publicly available department website and Google search engine. Metrics obtained included years of service as PD from time of appointment, sex, medical school/residency/fellowship, all-time H-index, dual degrees obtained, and professorial ranking. RESULTS: One hundred and forty-seven accredited urological residencies were reviewed; every PD was included. The majority were male (78%) and fellowship trained (68%). Women represented only 22% of PDs. The median active time served as PD, as of 11/2021, was 4years (IQR: 2-7). Forty (28%) were faculty at the same program they completed their residency. The median all-time H-index was 12 (IQR: 7-19; range 1-61). Twelve PDs also served as chair of their department. CONCLUSION: The vast majority of PDs are male, fellowship trained, and have served for less than 5years. Future studies are necessary to follow the trends of representation in leaders of urology residency programs.

Impact of preexisting opioid dependence on morbidity, length of stay, and inpatient cost of urological oncological surgery.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the incidence of preexisting opioid dependence in patients undergoing elective urological oncological surgery. In addition, to quantify the impact of preexisting opioid dependence on outcomes and cost of common urologic oncological procedures at a national level in the USA. METHODS: We used the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) to study 1,609,948 admissions for elective partial/radical nephrectomy, radical prostatectomy, and cystectomy procedures. Trends of preexisting opioid dependence were studied over 2003-2014. We use multivariable-adjusted analysis to compare opioid-dependent patients to those without opioid dependence (reference group) in terms of outcomes, namely major complications, length of stay (LOS), and total cost. RESULTS: The incidence of opioid dependence steadily increased from 0.6 per 1000 patients in 2003 to 2 per 1000 in 2014. Opioid-dependent patients had a significantly higher rate of major complications (18 vs 10%; p < 0.001) and longer LOS (4 days (IQR 2-7) vs 2 days (IQR 1-4); p < 0.001), when compared to the non-opioid-dependent counterparts. Opioid dependence also increased the overall cost by 48% (adjusted median cost $18,290 [IQR 12,549-27,715] vs. $12,383 [IQR 9225-17,494] in non-opioid-dependent, p < 0.001). Multivariable analysis confirmed the independent association of preexisting opioid dependence with major complications, length of stay in 4th quartile, and total cost in 4th quartile. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of preexisting opioid dependence before elective urological oncology is increasing and is associated with adverse outcomes after surgery. There is a need to further understand the challenges associated with opioid dependence before surgery and identify and optimize these patients to improve outcomes.

Risk-Based Assessment Of the Impact Of Intravesical Therapy on Recurrence-Free Survival Rate Following Resection of Suspected Low-grade, Non-muscle-invasive Bladder Cancer (NMIBC): A Southwest Oncology Groups (SWOG) S0337 Posthoc Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) has an elevated risk of recurrence, and immediate postresection intravesical instillation of chemotherapy (IVC) significantly reduces the risk of recurrence. Questions remain about which subpopulation may maximally benefit from IVC. Our aim was to develop risk groups based on recurrence risk in NMIBC, and then evaluate the impact of a single, postoperative instillation of IVC on the subsequent risk of recurrence for each risk group. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Using the SWOG S0337 trial cohort, we performed a posthoc analysis of 345 patients who were diagnosed with suspected low-grade NMIBC, underwent transurethral resection of the bladder tumor (TURBT), and received post-operative IVC (gemcitabine vs. saline). Using regression tree analysis, the regression tree stratified patients based on their risk of recurrence into low-risk - single tumor and aged < 57 years, intermediate-risk - single tumor and aged ≥ 57 years, and high-risk - multiple tumors. We used Cox proportional hazard models to test the impact of recurrence-free rate, and after adjustment to available covariates. RESULTS: Median age of the cohort was 66.5 (IQR: 59.7-75.8 years) with 85% of patients being males. Median overall follow-up time was 3.07 years (IQR: 0.75-4.01 years). When testing the impact of treatment in each risk group separately, we found that patients in the intermediate-risk treated with gemcitabine had a 24-month recurrence free rate of 77% (95% CI: 68%-86%) vs. 59% (95% CI: 49%-70%) in the saline group. This survival difference was confirmed on multivariable analysis (hazard ratio: 0.39, 95% CI: 23%-66%, P < 0.001). This group represented 53% of our cohort. Conversely, we did not observe a significant difference in recurrence-free survival among patients in the low- (P = 0.7) and high-risk (P = 0.4) groups. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that older patients with a single tumor of suspected low-grade NMIBC at TURBT maximally benefit from immediate postresection IVC (gemcitabine).