The healthcare burden for anterior cervical spine surgery is steep, according to a study published in the Journal of Spinal Disorders & Techniques.
The study authors reviewed more than 86 million hospital discharge records from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample and identified 927,103 anterior cervical spine surgeries to include in the study. The patients underwent surgery from 2000 to 2009.
Here are five key notes from the study:
1. Over the nine-year study period, annual changes increased significantly from $1.6 billion in 2000 to $5.63 billion in 2009.
2. However, at the same time the hospital length of stay decreased slightly. Patients stayed for an average of 2.23 days in 2000, compared with 2.2 days in 2009.
3. The hospital charges even increased after adjusting for covariates.
4. The variables that were independent predictors of hospital charges and length of stay include:
• Sex
• Race/ethnicity
• Insurance status
• Geographic location
• Comorbidities
• Traumatic cervical spine injury on admission
5. Age did not have an impact on charges or hospital length of stay.