An article recently published in The Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine examines delayed cervical palsy and implications for patient outcomes as well as cost.
The researchers conducted a retrospective study of patients who underwent cervical fusion for degenerative disease from 2008 to 2012. The cases were performed at Mayo Clinic and researchers included patients who developed delayed cervical palsy that wasn't related to intraoperative trauma.
There were 27 patients included in the study and those patients were compared with 24 control patients who underwent spinal fusion over the same time period. The researchers found:
1. There was a big difference in nonoperative hospital-related costs for patients who developed delayed cervical palsy when compared with the control group.
2. Patients in the delayed cervical palsy group had significantly higher postoperative imaging utilization than the control group. The DCP group reported 52 percent high utilization, compared to 17 percent in the control group.
3. The patients with delayed cervical palsy also used more physiatry services. Eighty-nine percent of DCP patients used physiatry services, compared with 63 percent of patients in the control group.
4. There weren't any difference reported for these factors:
• Length of stay
• Age
• Operating room costs
5. The researchers concluded, "While DCPs did not significantly prolong the length of hospitalization, they did increase hospital-related costs. This method could be further extrapolated to model costs of other complications as well."