Risk Factors for Increased Hospital Costs for Primary Total Hip Arthroplasty.

BACKGROUND: Patient medical complexity increases the cost of primary total hip arthroplasty (THA). The goal of this study was to quantify the impact of specific medical comorbidities on the real hospital cost of primary THA. METHODS: This study consisted of a retrospective analysis of 1,222 patient encounters for Current Procedural Terminology code 27130 (primary THA) between January 2017 and March 2020 at a high-volume urban academic medical center. Patient demographics, comorbidities, and admission data were collected, and univariate and multivariate gamma regression analyses were performed to identify associations with increased costs incurred during THA admission. RESULTS: The median total cost for THA was $30,580. Univariate analysis showed increased cost for body mass index (BMI) > 35 versus BMI < 35 ($31,739 versus 30,071; P < .05), American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score 3 to 4 versus ASA 1 to 2 ($32,268 versus 30,045; P < .05), prevalence of diabetes ($31,523 versus 30,379; P < .05), congestive heart failure ($34,814 versus 30,584; P < .05), peripheral vascular disease (PVD) ($35,369 versus 30,573; P < .05), chronic pulmonary disease (CPD) ($34,625 versus 30,405; P < .05), renal disease ($31,973 versus 30,352; P < .05), and increased length of stay (r = 0.424; P < .05). Multivariate gamma regression showed that BMI > 35 (relative risk [RR] = 1.05), ASA 3 to 4 (RR = 1.07), PVD (RR = 1.29), CPD (RR = 1.13), and renal disease (RR = 1.09) were independently associated with increased THA hospital cost (P < .01). Increased costs seen in BMI > 35 versus BMI < 35 patients were largely due to hospital room and board ($6,345 versus 5,766; P = .01) and operating room costs ($5,744 versus 5,185; P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: A BMI > 35, PVD, CPD, renal disease, and ASA 3 to 4 are associated with higher inpatient hospital costs for THA. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III; Retrospective cohort study.

Outcomes and revision rates following multilevel anterior cervical discectomy and fusion.

BACKGROUND: Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) for cervical degenerative disease is an accepted treatment for symptomatic cervical radiculopathy and myelopathy. One- and two-level fusions are much more common and more widely studied. Outcomes and revision rates for three- and four-level ACDF have not been well described. The purpose of this study is to report on clinical outcomes and revision rates following multilevel ACDF. METHODS: Patients who underwent three- or four-level anterior cervical discectomy with plate fixation between 2006 and 2011 from a single-center multi-surgeon practice for symptomatic cervical degenerative disease were identified. Improvements in neck disability index (NDI), neck and arm pain scores two years after surgery and revision rates were analyzed. RESULTS: Forty-six patients with a mean age of 55.9 years were included in the analysis. Twenty-one (46%) were male, 10 (22%) were smokers. Forty-one (89%) underwent three-level fusion and 5 (11%) underwent four-level fusion. NDI improved from 34.46 at baseline to 25.47 at 2 years. Neck pain improved from 7.04 at baseline to 3.95 and arm pain improved from 6.24 to 3.09 at 2 year follow up. Sixteen patients (35%) returned to surgery within 2 years with 11 of these patients (24%) returning for non-union. The average number of days to revision surgery was 750.6±570.3 days. CONCLUSIONS: Patients undergoing three- and four-level ACDF for multilevel cervical disease demonstrate substantial improvement in outcomes. However, the two-year revision rate is relatively high at 35% with the majority of these patients returning due to non-union.

Permanent implantation of antibiotic cement over exposed instrumentation eradicates deep spinal infection.

In this case series, we describe an infection treatment protocol involving permanent implantation of antibiotic cement that is effective in eradicating deep infection. Surgical site infection (SSI) is a devastating complication of spine surgery. Unlike the gold-standard two-stage revision in North American hip and knee arthroplasty, there exists no standardized, accepted protocol for the management of deep SSI with instrumentation. Because removal of hardware in an unstable, instrumented spine can result in serious neurologic sequelae, retention of instrumentation with elimination of bacterial colonization on implants is the goal. Using Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes, institutional medical records were queried to identify all posterior spinal procedures performed by the senior surgeon from 2008 through 2014. Thirty-four patients were identified as having an implant-associated SSI. Exclusion criteria included: (I) superficial SSI, and (II) those with less than 36 months of follow-up. The study population consisted of ten patients with deep implant-associated SSI who underwent our novel protocol of operative debridement and permanent coating of exposed implants with high-dose antibiotic cement. Postoperative infection presented after an average of 41.4±57.5 days (range, 6.0-207.0 days) from the index procedure. The mean follow-up was 64.4±18.1 months (range, 44.0-98.0 months). At final follow-up, none of the ten patients (0%) in our series had evidence of continued deep infection and none required removal of hardware. Ten of the ten patients (100%) were able to clear infection with a single stage debridement and coating with antibiotic cement. Only 1 of the 10 patients (10%) developed a pseudarthrosis. In conclusion, permanent implantation of antibiotic cement over exposed instrumentation is effective in preserving spinal instrumentation during infection eradication, preventing infection recurrence, and minimizing operative debridements.

Utilization of intraoperative neuromonitoring throughout the United States over a recent decade: an analysis of the nationwide inpatient sample.

BACKGROUND: To identify temporal changes to the demographics and utilization of intraoperative neuromonitoring (IONM) throughout the United States (U.S.). METHODS: The National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database was queried for IONM of central and peripheral nervous electrical activity (ICD-9-CM 00.94) between 2008 and 2014. The NIS database represents a 20% sample of discharges from U.S. Hospitals, weighted to provide national estimates. Demographic and economic data were obtained which included the annual number of surgeries, age, sex, insurance type, location, and frequency of routine discharge. RESULTS: The estimated use of IONM of central and peripheral nervous electrical activity increased 296%, from 31,762 cases in 2008 to 125,835 cases in 2014. Based on payer type, privately insured patients (45.0%), rather than Medicare (36.8%) or Medicaid patients (9.2%), were more likely to undergo IONM during spinal procedures. When stratifying by median income for patient zip code, there was a substantial difference in the rates of IONM between low (19.9%) and high-income groups (78.1%). IONM was significantly more likely to be utilized at urban teaching hospitals (72.9%) rather than nonteaching hospitals (25.0%) or rural centers (2.2%). CONCLUSIONS: Over the last decade, there has been a massive increase of 296% in utilization of IONM during spine surgery. This is likely due to its proven benefit in reducing neurologic morbidity in spinal deformity surgery, while introducing minimal additional risk. While IONM may improve patient care, it is still rather isolated to teaching hospitals and patients from higher income zip codes.

Complications following single-level interbody fusion procedures: an ACS-NSQIP study.

BACKGROUND: Controversy exists over the ability of various lumbar interbody fusion techniques to realign global and regional balance and their effect on patient outcomes. This is a retrospective cohort study to compare thirty-day postoperative outcomes between anterior and posterior interbody fusion techniques within a large national database. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study utilizing the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) database included 2,372 (29.9%) single-level anterior/direct lateral interbody fusions (ALIF/DLIF) and 5,563 (70.1%) single-level posterior/transforaminal lateral interbody fusions (PLIF/TLIF) between 2013 and 2014. Emergent cases, fracture cases, and preoperative compromised wounds were not analyzed. Primary thirty-day outcomes included mortality, return to operating room, readmission, length of stay, and other major complications. Minor outcomes included urinary tract infection, superficial incisional site infection, and perioperative blood transfusion within 72 hours. RESULTS: ALIF/DLIF was performed more for degenerative lumbar disc disease (31.0% vs. 13.9%, P<0.001), whereas PLIF/TLIF was utilized more for spondylolisthesis (19.1% vs. 24.4%, P<0.001). Thirty-day mortality was significantly higher with ALIF/DLIF (0.3% vs. 0.1%, P=0.021) in the univariate analysis and persisted in the multivariate analysis (OR =12.8; 95% CI, 1.37-119.6; P=0.025). Significantly more PLIF/TLIF patients required blood transfusions within 72 hours of surgery (9.6% vs. 7.6%, P=0.005). This difference did not persist in the multivariate analysis after controlling for covariates. Elevated ASA physical status classification, age >60, prior bleeding disorder, and preoperative anemia were significantly associated with blood transfusion requirement. More deep venous thrombosis occurred (DVT) with ALIF/DLIF compared to PLIF/TLIF (1.0% vs. 0.6%, P=0.025), which persisted in the multivariate analysis (OR =2.03; 95% CI, 1.13-3.65; P=0.017). CONCLUSIONS: Although numerous techniques can be utilized in the treatment approach to various lumbar pathologies, anterior approaches have an increased risk of developing a perioperative DVT and early mortality. Transfusion risk is more strongly associated with elevated American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) class, increased age, preoperative anemia, and patients with bleeding disorders.