Title

Admission volume determines outcome for patients with acute pancreatitis

UMMS Affiliation

Department of Surgery

Date

9-8-2009

Document Type

Article

Medical Subject Headings

Acute Disease; Case-Control Studies; Comorbidity; Female; Health Services Research; Hospital Costs; Hospital Mortality; Hospitals; Humans; Length of Stay; Logistic Models; Male; Middle Aged; Odds Ratio; Outcome and Process Assessment (Health Care); Pancreatitis; Patient Admission; Registries; Retrospective Studies; Risk Assessment; Risk Factors; Time Factors; Treatment Outcome; United States

Disciplines

Life Sciences | Medicine and Health Sciences

Abstract

BACKGROUND and AIMS: There is controversy over the optimal management strategy for patients with acute pancreatitis (AP). Studies have shown a hospital volume benefit for in-hospital mortality after surgery, and we examined whether a similar mortality benefit exists for patients admitted with AP. METHODS: Using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample, discharge records for all adult admissions with a primary diagnosis of AP (n = 416,489) from 1998 to 2006 were examined. Hospitals were categorized based on number of patients with AP; the highest third were defined as high volume (HV, >or=118 cases/year) and the lower two thirds as low volume (LV, <118 cases>/year). A matched cohort based on propensity scores (n = 43,108 in each group) eliminated all demographic differences to create a case-controlled analysis. Adjusted mortality was the primary outcome measure.

RESULTS: In-hospital mortality for patients with AP was 1.6%. Hospital admissions for AP increased over the study period (P < .0001). HV hospitals tended to be large (82%), urban (99%), academic centers (59%) that cared for patients with greater comorbidities (P < .001). Adjusted length of stay was lower at HV compared with LV hospitals (odds ratio, 0.86; 95% confidence interval, 0.82-0.90). After adjusting for patient and hospital factors, the mortality rate was significantly lower for patients treated at HV hospitals (hazard ratio, 0.74; 95% confidence interval, 0.67-0.83).

CONCLUSIONS: The rates of admissions for AP in the United States are increasing. At hospitals that admit the most patients with AP, patients had a shorter length of stay, lower hospital charges, and lower mortality rates than controls in this matched analysis.

Rights and Permissions

Citation: Gastroenterology. 2009 Dec;137(6):1995-2001. Epub 2009 Sep 3. Link to article on publisher's site

Related Resources

Link to Article in PubMed

Comments

Medical student Anand Singla participated in this study as part of his Senior Scholars research project.


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