Hospital Stays and Medical Expenses Increase Nationwide Among Patients With Septic Arthritis of the Shoulder Who Inject Drugs.

Hospital Stays and Medical Expenses Increase Nationwide Among Patients With Septic Arthritis of the Shoulder Who Inject Drugs. Orthopedics. 2020 Apr 20;:1-8 Authors: Toppo AJ, Oh DHW, Tybor DJ, Wurcel AG, Menendez ME, Ryan SP, Salzler MJ Abstract The authors determined the proportion of patients nationwide with septic arthritis of the shoulder who inject drugs, evaluated differences in hospitalization outcomes and charges between patients with and without injection drug use (IDU), and quantified demographic trends among patients with IDU from 2000 to 2013. Nationally representative data of patients with a principal discharge diagnosis of shoulder septic arthritis were obtained from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample 2000-2013. Using published algorithms, the authors classified septic arthritis of the shoulder as related or unrelated to IDU. They compared length of stay, leaving against medical advice, number of procedures, and mortality rates between the 2 groups, using regression models to control for age, sex, and race. Fifteen percent (95% confidence interval [CI], 13.6%-16.5%) of septic arthritis cases were associated with IDU. From 2000 to 2013, shoulder septic arthritis associated with IDU increased 4-fold. After controlling for age, sex, and race, individuals who inject drugs stayed in the hospital for 3.7 more days (95% CI, 2.4-5.0), incurred an average of $13,250 more charges for medical care (95% CI, $2635-$23,866), and were 5...
Source: Orthopedics - Category: Orthopaedics Authors: Tags: Orthopedics Source Type: research